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PRINCETON,  N.  J. 


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CHILD-LIFE 

IN 

EGYPT. 

Marx,  Louisa  \vUa+ely  1 


PHILADELPHIA: 

AMERICAN  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  UNION, 
No.  1122  Chestnut  Street. 


NEW  YORK:  599  BROADWAY. 


o  

Entered,  according  to  Act  of  Congress,  in  the  year  1866,  by  the 

AMERICAN  SUNDAY-SCHOOL  UNION, 

in  the  Clerk's  OfTice  of  the  District  Court  of  the  United  States 
for  the  Eastern  District  of  Pennsylvania. 


I 


NOTE. 

The  present  work  is  compiled  from  two  vo- 
lumes, one  entitled  "  Ragged  Life  in  Egypt,"  and 
the  other  "More  about  Ragged  Life  in  Egypt," 
— both  by  Miss  M.  L.  Whately.  It  embraces  the 
account  of  the  author's  labours  in  establishing 
schools  for  children  in  and  near  Cairo,  and  such 
incidental  notices  of  the  domestic  habits  and  cus- 
toms of  this  singular  people  as  are  necessary  to 
an  understanding  of  the  obstacles  which  attended 
her  benevolent  effort. 

It  adds  greatly  to  the  interest  of  Miss  Whately 's 
narrative  that  it  is  confined  to  what  came  under 
her  personal  notice. 

Sunday-school  (and  .especially  mission-school) 
teachers  will  find  this  volume  full  of  suggestions 
and  encouragements,  to  which  they  will  do  well 
to  take  heed. 

1*  5 


CONTENTS. 


PAGK 

Chap.  I. — First  Glance  at  an  Eastern  City   9 

II. — House-Hunting  eh  Cairo   41 

III.  — The  Cairo  Bazaars   23 

IV.  — The  House-Tops   27 

V. — First  Attempt  at  School   38 

VI.— The  Boab's  Family   49 

VII. — Shoh  and  Fatmeh   60 

VIII. — Scenes  in  the  Desert   75 

IX. — Visits  to  Eastern  Women  whc  do  not 

live  in  Hareems   85 

X. — The  Blind  and  the  Sick   99 

XL— The  City  Arabs   112 

XII. — Three  Days  at  Suez   124 

XIII.  — Recruiting   138 

XIV.  — A  School-Treat  in  Cairo   153 

XV.— The  Tamarisk-Grove   167 

7 


S  CONTENTS. 

VXQS 

Chap.  XVI. — Motheks'  Meeting  in  Caieo   181 

XVII. — Ragged  School  Reopened   169 

XVIII. — Visits  to  the  Lanes  and  Fields....  206 

XIX. — How  the  School  Progressed   221 

XX.— Zeynab   245 

XXI. — Zeynab  Again   261 

XXII.— The  Boys'  Sunday-School   272 

XXIII— Conclusion   287 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


CHAPTEE  I. 

FIRST  GLANCE  AT  AN  EASTERN  CITY. 

HE  first  sight  of  Egypt! — that  warm, 
transparent  colouring, — those  feathery- 
palms  and  graceful  minarets  standing  out 
against  the  clear  blue  sky,  and  relieving  the 
monotony  of  the  flat,  sandy  coast, — that  golden 
sunshine,  making  the  shadows  so  deep  by 
contrast  with  the  intense  light, — and  those 
moving  crowds,  so  different  from  the  figures 
with  which  our  eyes  have  been  familar  from 
childhood !  One  must  pity  the  mind  that 
cannot  relish  the  novelty  of  such  a  scene ;  yet 
if  witnessed  a  second  time,  after  a  long  inter- 
val, the  charm  is  almost  greater,  perhaps :  a 

9 


10 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


pleasant  mixture  of  novelty  and  familiarity 
seems  to  enhance  the  delight  with  which  the 
eye  wanders  round  the  half-remembered  pic- 
tures of  Eastern  life,  and  enables  one  to  appre- 
ciate them  even  more  fully  than  at  first  sight. 

The  tall  Bedouins,  in  their  white,  flowing 
drapery,  stalking  through  the  motley  crowd; 
the  troops  of  ragged,  vociferating  donkey- 
boys,  with  their  white  teeth  displayed  in  per- 
petual grins ;  the  women,  in  their  scanty  robes 
of  blue  cotton  and  black  face-veils  tied  under 
their  eyes,  and  little  brown  babies,  with  tiny 
red  caps  or  dirty  kerchiefs  on  their  heads, 
clinging  to  the  shoulders  of  their  mothers; 
Levantines,  in  half-European,  half-Oriental 
costume,  loitering  about,  cigar  in  mouth; 
ladies  in  black  silken  shroud-like  dress,  hur- 
rying along  to  the  bath ;  Negroes  and  Nu- 
bians in  gay-coloured  turbans,  and  scarfs  of 
every  rainbow  hue;  Jews  and  Algerines, 
Greeks  and  Turks  and  Maltese, — these  are 
some  of  the  figures  that  swarm  in  the  streets 
of  the  only  sea-port  of  Northern .  Egypt.  It 


FIRST  GLANlE  AT  AN  EASTERN  CITY.  11 

is  true  that  Alexandria  is,  compared  to  the 
towns  of  the  interior,  only  half  Eastern  in 
its  inhabitants,  and  even  its  buildings :  num- 
bers of  houses  are  built  in  the  European  style, 
and  fair-haired  Franks  are  plentiful  in  its 
streets;  but  still  it  is  wonderfully  different 
from  any  city  which  a  native  of  our  "  isles  of 
the  sea"  has  ever  seen  in  his  own  land,  or  in 
the  whole  continent  of  the  North. 

There  passes  the  first  string  of  camels  he 
has  ever  gazed  upon  !  Who  that  has  studied 
Scripture  does  not  feel  a  thrill  of  delight  as 
he  watches  them  walking  past  him,  associated 
as  are  camels  with  so  many  precious  narra- 
tives and  allusions, — with  Abraham,  Isaac  and 
Jacob  ?  Singular  creatures  they  are, — gaunt, 
and  yet  stately, — awkward,  yet  graceful,  con- 
tradictory as  it  seems ;  for  they  have  a  grace 
of  their  own:  as  each  great,  spongy  foot  is 
lifted  up,  the  animal  sways  his  long  neck  and 
looks  down  with  solemn  cautiousness,  as  if  he 
were  going  to  tread  on  eggs,  while  his  large, 
beautiful  dark  eye  turns  occasionally  to  one 


12 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


side  or  another  with  an  expression  of  dignified 
contempt,  which  is  almost  human  in  its  intelli- 
gence. The  heavy  skins  of  water,  slung  with 
hair  ropes  to  his  steep  sides,  make  a  sound 
with  the  jolting  motion  which  is  quite  re- 
freshing on  a  hot,  dusty  day,  and  the  progress 
of  the  long  file  is  marked  by  the  drops  which 
escape  from  the  older  and  more  leaky  vessels. 
One  man,  and  often  one  little  boy,  will  guide 
a  whole  string  of  camels,  and  the  docile  crea- 
tures patiently  follow  a  master  who  does  not 
reach  so  high  as  their  knees. 

Bewildered  with  sights  and  sounds  so  new 
and  strange,  the  traveller  at  last  is  weary 
with  gazing,  and  rests  under  his  musquito- 
curtains  till  next  day  dawns,  and  he  begins 
the  new  life  in  those  old  regions  where  every 
thing  has  stood  still  for  so  many  ages !  The 
land  of  mummies  and  pyramids, — the  land 
of  the  Pharaohs  and  their  treasure-cities, — 
and,  what  is  more  interesting  still  to  the 
mind  of  any  one  who  labours  in  God's  vine- 


FIRST  GLANCE  AT  AN  EASTERN  CITY.  13 


yard,  the  land  where  so  many  thousands  of 
human  beings  live  at  this  present  day  who 
know  nothing  of  the  "  city  of  refuge,"  but 
wander  in  various  paths,  all  leading  thera 
astray. 


14 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


CHAPTER  II. 

HOUSE-HUNTING  IN  CAIRO. 

i^YT^HEBE  is  not  much  of  Oriental  life  to 
i^JM.  Deseen  while  residing  in  a  hotel  kept 
by  a  European,  and  where,  except  a  few  native 
servants,  scarcely  any  thing  appears  to  mark 
that  you  are  in  Africa.  To  know  much  of  the 
ways  of  the  people,  one  must  reside  in  a  native 
house  and  in  a  native  quarter.  For  this  last 
advantage,  however,  we  must  pay  pretty  dear 
at  first,  by  taking  a  great  deal  of  trouble;  for 
if  house-hunting  is  a  troublesome  work  every- 
where, it  is  particularly  so  in  Cairo,  and  the 
poor  hunter  is  led  occasionally  to  envy  the  wan- 
dering Bedouin,  who  has  but  to  pitch  his  tent, 
instead  of  groping  into  dark  passages  and 


HOUSE-HUNTING  IN  CAIRO.  15 

stumbling  over  heaps  of  rubbish  in  search  of 
an  abode. 

The  old  houses  are  likely  to  be  very  old 
indeed,  very  dirty,  and  the  wood-work  hope- 
lessly full  of  vermin ;  the  new,  on  the  other 
hand,  are  not  finished,  for  it  is  usual  in 
Egypt  to  leave  a  house  uncompleted  until 
the  builder  has  secured  a  tenant, — a  plan  very 
convenient  to  him,  because  he  can  thus  leave 
many  little  details  to  be  added  at  the  expense 
of  the  said  tenant,  unless  he  is  more  than 
commonly  sharp  in  making  the  bargain.  The 
old  houses,  after  visiting  a  few  of  them,  we 
decided  against  entirely,  and  turned  our 
thoughts  to  the  new,  as  offering  the  least 
evils. 

Some  of  the  streets  to  which  we  had  been 
directed  were  so  narrow  that  the  projecting 
wooden  lattices  touched  from  opposite  sides, 
and  only  a  small  strip  of  sky  appeared  at  the 
top  of  the  houses.  As  the  inhabitants  keep 
the  ground  perpetually  sluiced  with  water, 
these  very  narrow  streets  are  damp  even  in 


16 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


this  dry  climate,  and,  except  on  the  roofs,  no 
free  air  can  be  obtained  in  them.  One  house, 
however,  though  in  the  close  Coptic  quarter, 
where  the  streets  are  particularly  damp  and 
narrow  for  the  most  part,  was  well  spoken  of, 
as  it  stood  at  a  corner,  and  was  consequently 
not  crowded  on  all  sides  by  its  neighbours. 
It  was,  moreover,  quite  new, — so  new,  indeed, 
that  the  staircase  was  not  half  finished,  and 
a  series  of  feats  of  scrambling,  worthy  of 
goats  upon  a  cliff,  had  to  be  performed  before 
we  could  reach  the  top  room,  whence  a  very 
fine  view  was  to  be  seen,  and  pure  air  to  be 
breathed.  But  the  walls  were  not  even  plas- 
tered, nor  the  windows  glazed,  nor  the  doors 
made;  and,  to  crown  all,  the  workmen  were 
lying  upon  the  floor  in  one  of  the  rooms,  fast 
asleep,  among  heaps  of  shavings,  though  it 
was  only  ten  o'clock  in  the  morning.  It  ap- 
peared that  they  had  been  locked  into  the 
house  to  prevent  them  from  leaving  their 
work,  and  thus  a  fine  example  was  produced 
of  the  effects  of  forced  labour:  they  could  not 


HOUSE-HUNTING  IN  CAIRO.  17 

get  out,  indeed;  but  they  slept  instead  of 
working!  The  master  promised  to  have  it 
ready  in  fifteen  days;  but  he  must  have  been 
very  credulous  who  should  believe  him,  with 
the  sleeping  labourers  before  his  eyes. 

After  many  failures  and  much  fatigue,  a 
house  was  at  last  found,  which  possessed  many 
advantages  :  it  was  in  a  healthy,  airy  quarter, 
and,  though  a  Moslem  quarter,  many  Syrian 
families  resided  in  it :  it  was  also  very  near  the 
country,  and  yet  quite  in  the  town, — which 
for  a  school-house  is  a  very  important  combi- 
nation. This  house  was,  moreover,  so  nearly 
completed  that  two  days  of  active  work  would 
have  sufficed  to  make  it  habitable,  as  no  'paint 
was  used.  The  native  to  whom  it  belonged 
was  a  sly-looking  fellow,  but  he  promised  to 
have  all  done  in  seven  days.  His  future 
tenants  visited  their  intended  abode  nearly 
every  day  during  this  period,  to  urge  the 
workmen  to  work.  But  when  the  eighth  day 
came,  and  they  presented  themselves,  humbly 
following  on  foot  the  ox-cart  which  conveyed 

B  2* 


18 


CHILD-L.FE  IN  EG\  PT. 


their  effects,  the  landlord  appeared  a  good 
deal  disconcerted  at  being  taken  at  his  word. 

Yet  it  was  the  only  chance  for  the  tenants 
to  get  all  things  finished,  to  be  actually  on  the 
spot,  inhabiting  such  rooms  as  were  fit  for 
use;  otherwise  the  house  might  have  remained 
unfinished  to  this  very  day!  The  outside  was 
clean  and  white,  and  looked  pretty  and  in- 
viting; but  it  certainly  did  require  some  courage 
to  enter  the  scene  of  dirt,  litter  and  confusion 
that  appeared  within.  We  had  to  spring  over 
pools  of  whitewash,  and  climb  over  loose 
stones  and  bricks,  in  order  to  get  to  the 
stairs,  where  we  were  met  by  a  troop  of  dirty, 
half-clad  boys  and  girls,  with  hods  of  mortar 
on  their  shoulders  and  pails  of  water  on  their 
heads.  Threading  our  way  with  some  trouble 
among  this  ragged  regiment,  we  attained  the 
first  story,  and  there  found  at  least  doors  and 
windows,  though  the  former,  having  neither 
locks  nor  latches  of  any  kind,  obstinately  refused 
to  remain  shut  unless  by  means  of  a  violent 
slam;  and  1hen  we  had  no  means  of  escape, 


HOUSE-HUNTING  IN  CAIRO. 


19 


and  were  prisoners  till  our  servant  came  and 
forced  the  door  open  by  the  application  of  his 
shoulder. 

In  half  an  hour's  time,  however,  a  change 
took  place.  The  sly  owner  sat  at  the  head  of 
the  stairs,  watching  the  active  proceedings  of 
his  new  tenants  with  great  surprise ;  for,  in- 
stead of  reclining  on  their  carpets  in  a  corner 
of  the  dirty  apartments  and  smoking  a  pipe 
in  peace  and  quiet,  as  he  doubtless  had  ex- 
pected them  to  do  in  such  circumstances,  they 
were  assisting  their  servants  in  clearing  away 
rubbish  and  arranging  and  unpacking  furni- 
ture. When  he  saw  one  lady  handling  a 
broom,  while  the  other  was  helping  the  maid 
to  uncord  a  box,  and  at  the  same  directing  the 
servant  who  was  arranging  bedsteads,  he  could 
not  repress  a  broad  grin ;  but  as  to  lending  a 
hand,  that  never  occurred  to  him.  By  sunset 
he  took  his  welcome  departure,  and  the  work- 
men also  left.  By  this  time  the  rooms,  if  bare 
and  desolate,  were  at  least  clean  and  habita- 
ble.    The  new  cook,  a  respectable  Syrian, 


20 


CHILI- LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


was  calmly  boiling  rice  and  milk  for  supper  in 
the  kitchen,  which  had  only  been  finished  an 
hour  ago ;  and  the  tenants,  sitting  down  in  the 
palm- wood  frames,  covered  with  mattresses, 
which  were  the  chief  part  of  their  furniture  as 
yet,  could  at  least  say  they  were  monarchs  of 
all  they  surveyed !  The  rooms  were  white- 
washed exactly  like  the  outside,  and  from  the 
absence  of  paint  on  any  of  the  wood-work,  and 
a  certain  deficiency  in  straight  lines  and  in 
general  finish  which  is  to  be  observed  in  most 
Egyptian  handyworks,  the  whole  concern  had 
a  bare  appearance :  the  only  seats  were  the 
palm-wood  frames  already  mentioned,  like  the 
bedsteads,  only  smaller,  and  called  kavasses; 
these  are  used  for  a  hundred  different  purposes 
in  Cairo ;  but,  bare  as  it  looked,  it  was  a  home. 

It  is  indeed  a  work  of  time  to  get  the 
simplest  furniture,  where  every  thing  has  to 
be  separately  hunted  for  and  bargained  for, 
and  brought  home  by  yourself, — that  is,  by 
your  servant,  or  a  porter  or  donkey-boy;  for 
shopmen  do  not  send  articles  home  for  you,  as 


HOUSE-HUNTING  IN  CAIRO. 


21 


with  us.  For  a  matt,  ess  it  was  needful  to  go 
to  the  cotton  bazaar,  get  the  raw  cotton 
weighed,  bargain  for  it,  with  the  help  of  a  more 
experienced  friend,  then  send  for  a  man  whose 
work  it  is  to  pluck  it  and  stuff  the  mattresses 
and  cushions,  and  to  watch  him  pretty  closely 
lest  he  put  it  in  half  picked,  to  save  trouble. 
Then  for  shelves,  so  necessary  in  houses  with- 
out any  closets,  a  carpenter  is  sent  for;  and 
when  he  comes  he  says,  "I  have  no  wood.' 
"Well,  get  some  directly."  "I  must  go  to 
Bouiac  for  it,"  (two  miles  off.)  With  great 
persuasion  he  is  induced  to  try  if  the  city  of 
Cairo  cannot  produce  a  little  wood,  and  brings 
some,  of  a  bad  quality  enough,  certainly.  Two 
hours  before  sunset  he  is  requested  to  make 
another  shelf,  having  actually  finished  three, 
and  replies,  "To-morrow  I  will  make  it." 
"  Why  not  now  ?  it  still  wants  an  hour  and 
more  to  sunset."  "Iam  tired,"  (holding  his 
head  on  his  hand:)  "I  have  worked  all  day," 
— which  was  not  strictly  true :  "  early,  early," 
to-morrow,  to-morrow. 


22 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


It  would  be  well  for  the  poor  Egyptians  if 
we  could  teach  them  that  to-day  is  better 
than  to-morrow ;  but  we  must  take  them  young 
for  such  lessons :  our  friend  the  carpenter  was 
too  old,  I  fear,  ever  to  learn  to  do  any  thing 
to-day  which  he  can  possibly  put  off  till  to- 
morrow. 


TEE  CAIRO  BAZAARS. 


23 


CHAPTER  III. 

THE  CAIRO  BAZAARS. 

HE  great  bazaars,  where  the  necessaries 
of  life  are  sold,  are  the  thoroughfares,  and 
in  the  middle  of  the  day  so  noisy  and  crowded 
that  it  requires  much  skill  on  the  part  of  the  boy 
who  guides  one's  donkey,  as  well  as  consider- 
able vigilance  in  oneself,  to  avoid  being  knocked 
down  or  squeezed  to  a  mummy.  A  sea  of 
white  and  red  turbans  is  in  front,  here  and 
there  interrupted  by  a  huge  camel,  towering 
above  everybody  and  apparently  going  to 
trample  down  some  half-dozen  in  his  progress, 
or  by  a  long  line  of  donkeys  laden  with  drip- 
ping skins  of  water,  or  great  stones  for  build- 
ing, loosely  fastened  with  cord-netting,  and 
threatening  to  fall  on  the  feet  of  the  passen- 


24 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


gers ;  though,  indeed,  from  the  density  of  the 
crowd,  they  do  not  seem  to  have  any  feet, — 
only  heads ! 

In  some  quarters  the  most  lively  traffic  is 
carried  on,  and  carriages  are  constantly  to 
be  seen,  as  the  space  is  wide  enough  to  admit 
of  driving, — though  not  always  with  safety: 
the  Arab  drivers,  however,  are  rash  and  head- 
strong, and  dash  furiously  along,  a  running 
footman,  armed  with  a  long  wand,  going  be- 
fore to  clear  the  way.  "And  some  shall  run 
before  his  chariots."  (1  Sam.  viii.  11.)  By 
night  the  carriages  are  lighted  by  torches, 
borne  by  the  says,  which  cast  a  beautiful  red 
glare  as  they  hurry  past,  and  strongly  bring 
to  mind  the  passage  of  Scripture  where  it  is 
said,  "The  chariots  shall  be  with  flaming 
torches,  .  .  .  the  chariots  shall  rage  in  the 
streets,  they  shall  justle  one  against  another  in 
the  broad  ways :  they  shall  seem  like  torches, 
they  shall  run  like  the  lightnings."  Nah.  ii.  3, 4. 

But  it  is  in  the  daytime  that  the  chief 
crowds  are  to  be  seen  in  the  East :  they  do 


THE  CAIRO  BAZAARS. 


25 


not,  like  Europea  ns,  turn  night  into  day ;  and, 
instead  of  requiring  gas  to  light  up  their 
shops,  when  the  sun  has  set  they  shut  them 
up  and  go  home.  In  this  respect,  surely,  civili- 
zation would  not  improve  them. 

Women  carrying  bread,  fruit  or  vegetables 
on  their  heads  add  in  no  small  degree  to  the 
noise  as  well  as  to  the  crowd  in  the  bazaars, 
their  shrill  cries  sounding  above  every  other 
din.  They  are  not,  apparently,  thought  worthy 
of  keeping  shops,  but  whatever  can  be  borne 
on  the  head  they  may  sell ;  and  it  makes  a 
greater  difference  than  one  who  has  not  seen 
it  would  fancy,  to  see  all  burdens  on  the  head 
instead  of  on  the  arm  or  in  the  hand.  At 
home,  a  troop  of  market-women  have  both 
hands  full,  and  are  usually  bent  to  one  side 
with  the  weight  of  a  basket  on  the  arm ;  here 
they  are  always  erect,  and  seem  incessantly 
gesticulating  with  their  gracefully-rounded 
brown  arms  (I  speak  of  those  who  are  not 
arrived  at  age  and  decrepitude),  and  tinkling 
their  silver  bracelets,  while  huge  trays  o< 

3 


26 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


heavy  water-pitchers  are  skilfully  poised  on 
their  heads.  The  greater  number  have  their 
faces  hidden  all  but  the  eyes;  still,  a  good 
many  of  the  lowest  class  are  unveiled,  or  at 
most  have  only  a  corner  of  their  head-veil 
drawn  across  the  mouth  and  held  in  their 
teeth  while  passing  along  a  public  place. 

The  most  picturesque  and  remarkable  of  all 
the  moving  figures  of  the  Eastern  crowd  is, 
undoubtedly,  the  Bedouin  Arab.  Strong  but 
wiry  and  slender  in  frame,  graceful  in  his 
movements,  as  he  follows  his  stately  camels, 
or  stops  to  purchase  cotton  or  provisions  in 
the  bazaars,  his  striped  abba,  or  white  bur- 
nouse, hangs  easily  in  heavy  folds  over  his 
shoulder,  and  his  dark  skin  and  prominent 
features  and  keen  black  eye  all  mark  the  un- 
changed son  of  the  desert,  who  belongs  not  to 
the  city,  but  passes  through  it,  indifferent  to 
its  conveniences  and  luxuries  and  despising 
its  customs  like  his  ancestors. 


THE  HOUSE-TOPS. 


27 


CHAPTER  IV. 

THE  HOUSE-TOPS. 

N  the  winter-weather  of  Egypt,  which 
is  for  the  most  part  delightfully  tem- 
perate, the  house-top  is  a  very  pleasant  perch, 
from  whence  a  view  of  great  extent  may  be 
enjoyed,  as  well  as  much  "  native  life"  seen, 
which  could  hardly  be  gained  from  any  other 
place  so  well.  Our  roof  became  almost  a 
parlour  during  the  cool  weather,  and  afforded 
the  best  substitute  for  a  garden  that  circum- 
stances allowed.  Standing  at  a  corner,  and, 
therefore,  only  joined  behind  and  on  one  side 
to  other  houses,  and  being  much  higher  than 
those  nearest  to  it,  our  dwelling  commanded  a 
clear  view  of  the  city  and  of  the  country  for 
miles  round.    We  looked  upon  the  gardens 


'Z6  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 

which  surround  the  city  like  a  dark-green  mass, 
varied  by  the  tall  palms  shooting  up  their 
feathery  branches  amid  the  orange  and  acacia 
trees,  and  by  the  white  villas  and  palaces  of 
rich  pashas  or  Franks.  A  streak  of  pale  yel- 
low or  pink  in  the  far  distance,  just  on  the 
horizon,  marked  the  desert  beyond  the  narrow 
limit  of  fertility.  All  around  us  were  the 
crowded,  flat-roofed  dwellings  of  the  city,  of 
every  variety  of  height  and  shape,  with  hun- 
dreds of  beautiful  towers  and  mosques,  some 
dating  back  to  the  times  of  Saracen  magnifi- 
cence, others  more  modern  and  less  exquisitely 
finished. 

Down  in  the  street  below  us,  we  looked  on 
the  humble  sellers  of  onions,  bread,  or  sugar- 
canes,  who,  seated  all  day  upon,  their  mats, 
soon  became  familiar  both  by  face  and  voice, — 
the  sugarcane-seller  especially,  who  lived  at 
the  corner  opposite  my  window,  furnishing 
many  an  animated  group  for  the  sketch-book, 
in  the  crowds  of  boys  and  girls  who  came  to 
buy  her  very  popular  articles.    Her  existence 


CTjUfc  Eifc  in  Cflgpt 


THE  HOUSE-TCFS. 


29 


was  less  monotonous  than  might  appear ;  for 
she  talked  incessantly  to  any  one  who  came 
within  ear-shot,  whether  customer  or  not. 

Late  in  the  day,  when  sellers  were  making 
up  their  accounts,  and  a  few  sharp  bargainers 
trying  to  get  oranges,  beans,  &c.  at  a  lower 
rate  than  before,  the  clatter  of  tongues  was 
quite  astonishing ;  the  ringing  sound  of  slaps 
upon  some  one's  shoulders  was  added  to  the 
cries  of  "  You  dog !"  "  You  buffalo  !"  "  You 
ass!"  "You  Jew!"  the  last  beins^  considered 
the  worst  insult.  They  are  a  merry  as  well 
as  a  quarrelsome  set,  however,  and  at  least  as 
much  laughter  as  scolding  went  on ;  nor  are 
the  men  graver  or  more  silent  on  their  side. 
The  Egyptians  remind  one  constantly  of  the 
Irish,  in  their  love  for  conversation,  mirthful- 
ness,  and  propensity  to  dispute  and  general 
excitability  of  character.  A  southern  climate 
will  give  a  certain  degree  of  languor  and  idle- 
ness; but  their  tongues  are  not  idle,  as  any 
one  who  lived  in  our  street  could  well  testify. 

Some  of  the  houses  in  Bab-el-Bahar  were, 

3* 


30 


CHILD-LIFE  EGYPT. 


like  our  own,  tall  and  white  and  respectable- 
looking. 

It  is  upon  the  house-tops  of  the  inferior 
dwellings  that  native  life  is  most  displayed. 
They  are  built  of  mud  bricks,  and  stand  so 
much  lower  than  our  house  that  even  from 
the  windows  we  can  plainly  see  the  goat 
sauntering  on  the  roof  of  one  of  them,  and 
the  turkeys  pecking  among  the  rubbish,  or 
the  matron,  in  her  trailing  garments  of  dark- 
blue  cotton,  spreading  fuel  to  dry  in  the  sun, 
picking  maize  from  the  husk,  sifting  wheat, 
winding  thread  on  reels,  or  squatted  before  a 
small  extempore  fire,  cooking  some  of  the 
queer  native  messes  that  suit  Egyptian  palates. 
On  another,  perhaps,  lies  an  idle  boy,  fast 
asleep  in  the  bright  sunshine,  while  his  little 
brothers  are  playing  with  the  kids,  and  his 
elder  sister  busy  with  the  "  wash"  of  family 
clothes,  or  hanging  pink  trousers  and  blue 
shirts  to  dry.  She  seems  to  get  up  and  down 
by  a  sort  of  rude  mud  steps,  through  a  hole 


THE  HOUSE-TOPS. 


31 


in  the  roof  which  gives  light  and  air  to  the 
dens  below. 

The  roofs  are  usually  in  a  great  state  of 
litter;  and  were  it  not  that  the  seller  of  fuel 
gets  a  palm-branch  and  makes  a  clearance 
once  in  a  while,  the  roof  would  assuredly  give 
way  under  the  accumulation  of  rubbish.  One 
thing  never  seemed  cleared  away,  however; 
and  that  was  the  heap  of  old  broken  pitchers, 
sherds  and  pots,  that  in  these  and  similar 
houses  are  piled  up  in  some  corner;  and 
there  is  a  curious  observation  to  be  made  in 
connection  with  this.  A  little  before  sunset, 
numbers  of  pigeons  suddenly  emerge  from 
behind  the  pitchers  and  other  rubbish,  where 
they  had  been  sleeping  in  the  heat  of  the  day, 
or  pecking  about  to  find  food.  They  dart  up- 
wards and  career  through  the  air  in  large 
circles,  their  outspread  wings  catching  the 
bright  glow  of  the  sun's  slanting  rays,  so  that 
they  really  resemble  shining  "yellow  gold;" 
then,  as  they  wheel  round  and  are  seen  against 
the  light,  they  appear  as  if  turned  into  molten 


32 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


silver,  most  of  them  being  pure  white,  or  else 
very  light-coloured.  This  may  seem  fanciful ; 
but  the  effect  of  light  in  these  regions  is  diffi- 
cult to  describe  to  those  who  have  not  seen  it ; 
and  evening  after  evening  we  watched  the 
circling  flight  of  the  doves,  and  always  ob- 
served the  same  appearance.  "Though  ye 
have  lien  among  the  pots,  yet  shall  ye  be  as 
the  wings  of  a  dove  covered  with  silver,  and 
her  feathers  with  yellow  gold."    Ps.  lxviii. 

It  was  beautiful  to  see  these  birds  rising 
clean  and  unsoiled,  as  doves  always  do,  from 
the  dust  and  dirt  in  which  they  had  been 
hidden,  and  soaring  aloft  in  the  sky  till 
nearly  out  of  sight  among  the  bright  sunset 
clouds. 

It  is  from  the  house-tops  that  the  street- 
criers,  so  characteristic  of  every  nation,  as 
showing  the  wants  and  tastes  of  the  masses, 
are  best  seen  and  heard.  Many  of  these  vary 
with  the  season,  as  with  us;  but  the  one  that 
begins  the  day  never  changes;  and,  though 
so  much  that  is  painful  to  a  Christian  is  mixed 


THE  HOUSE-TOPS. 


33 


up  in  it,  still  the  early  call  to  prayer  must 
always  strike  one  as  a  most  suitable  com- 
mencement for  the  work  of  every  day.  Just 
as  the  first  ray  of  sunshine  breaks  forth,  the 
muezzin's  cry  is  heard,  "  To  prayer,  to  prayer, 
0  ye  believers!"  It  is  but  a  form,  alas !  with 
most  of  the  hearers :  yet  the  very  form  reminds 
a  servant  of  God  of  the  privilege  and  duty  of 
beginning  each  day  with  prayer.  Then,  when 
the  echoing  voices  from  minaret  to  minaret 
have  died  away,  the  "working-day"  begins, 
and  the  wants  and  pleasures  of  man  make 
themselves  known  one  after  another. 

First  is  heard  the  milk-woman's  call,  an- 
swering to  "Milk  below!"  "Haleeb  wa  la- 
ban  !"  that  is,  new*  milk,  and  that  which  has 
been  purposely  turned  slightly  sour  and  thick, 
and  is  a  favourite  article  for  breakfast,  and 
also  used  in  cookery,  all  over  the  East. 

Sometimes  a  woman  passes  bearing  a  tray 
on  her  head,  with  small  earthen-ware  bowls 
filled  with  the  cream  of  buffalo's  milk 
scalded ;  this  dainty  is  called  kishtar,  and 


34 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


is  much  liked  by  Europeans  as  well  as 
natives. 

In  the  autumn,  as  soon  as  the  harvest  is 
commenced,  the  seller  of  parched  corn  is  heard 
at  intervals  all  day,  and  her  store  of  young 
ears  of  corn  roasted  in  their  own  husks  is 
much  in  request.  The  sweet  meat  seller  is 
usually  a  man,  who  goes  calling  out  in  the 
name  of  the  Prophet — comfits  !  I  do  not  re- 
collect seeing  a  woman  selling  sweetmeats: 
probably  it  is  considered  a  dignified  business, 
as  consisting  of  manufactured  articles. 

The  most  musical,  perhaps,  of  all  our  street- 
cries  was  that  of  the  seller  of  parched  peas, 
and  a  certain  little  nut  or  seed  which  is  much 
eaten  by  children,  and,  I  suspect,  by  grown 
people  also.  "0  parched  peas!  0  nuts  of 
love!"  &c,  was  given  in  a  really  pretty, 
chant-like  manner,  and  with  a  good  voice. 

The  orange-crier  was  generally  a  woman; 
so  was  the  seller  of  radishes.  A  little  later 
in  the  day  the  sherbet-crier  was  heard :  he 
had  more  custom  in  summer  than  winter,  and 


THE  HOUSE-TOPS. 


35 


the  tinkle  of  his  brass  cups  was  sometimes 
the  only  sound  in  the  hot  and  dusty  street 
during  the  sultry  afternoon  hours.  The  sher- 
bet most  commonly  sold  among  the  poor  is 
merely  raisins  boiled  in  water  which  is  cooled, 
or  else  treacle  and  water,  or  some  such  cheap 
preparation, — all  harmless  enough.  The  itine- 
rant seller  of  cotton  handkerchiefs  and  mus- 
lin for  the  ladies  passes  oftenest  in  the  after- 
noons, crying  his  English  cotton  and  Indian 
muslins,  with  long  phrases  puffing  his  goods, 
just  as  itinerant  vendors  do  with  us. 

When  the  seasons  arrive,  the  various  fruits 
and  vegetables  have  each  their  crier.  "  Sugar- 
canes  !  white  sugarcanes !  in  the  name  of  the 
Prophet!"  shouts  a  fellah,  or  peasant,  fresh 
from  the  country,  and  bearing  a  load  of  thick, 
pale-green  canes  on  his  shoulder.  The  purple 
canes  are  prettier,  but  I  oftener  heard  the 
others  cried :  so  I  supposed  they  were  con- 
sidered sweeter.  Then,  when  the  real  hot 
weather  set  in,  about  the  middle  of  April,  the 
cucumbers  were  in  abundance,  and  eagerly 


36 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


devoured  by  all  classes;  and  the  cucumber- 
seller  had  a  very  musical  and  lively  cry. 

Perhaps  no  cry  is  more  striking,  after  all, 
than  the  short  and  simple  cry  of  the  water- 
carrier.  "The  gift  of  God!"  he  says,  as  he 
goes  along  with  his  water-skin  on  his  shoul- 
der. It  is  impossible  to  hear  this  cry  without 
thinking  of  the  Lord's  words  to  the  woman 
of  Samaria : — "  If  thou  knewest  the  gift  of 
God,  and  who  it  is  that  saith  unto  thee, 
Give  me  to  drink,  thou  wouldst  have  asked 
of  him,  and  he  would  have  given  thee  living 
water."  It  is  very  likely  that  water,  so  in- 
valuable, and  so  often  scarce,  in  hot  countries, 
was  in  those  days  spoken  of,  as  now,  as  the 
"gift  of  God,"  to  denote  its  preciousness:  if  so, 
the  expression  would  be  exceedingly  forcible 
to  the  woman,  and  full  of  meaning. 

The  water-carrier's  cry  in  Egypt  must 
always  rouse  a  thoughtful  mind  to  a  recollec- 
tion of  the  deep  necessities  of  the  people,  of 
the  thirst  which  they  as  yet  know  not  of,  and 
of  the  living  water  which  few  if  any  have  yet 


CbUb  gift  in  (Pgspt. 


Girls  offering  water  at  a  railway  station. 


p.  36. 


THE  HOUSE-TOPS. 


37 


offered  to  the  poor  Moslims  in  that  great 
city,  and  makes  him  wish  and  pray  for  the 
time  when  his  sonorous  cry  shall  be  but  a 
type  of  the  cry  of  one  bringing  the  living 
water  of  the  gospel,  and  saying,  "  Behold  the 
gift  of  God  |M 


38 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


CHAPTER  V. 


FIRST  ATTEMPT  A.T  SCHOOL. 

[JOSLIM  girls  will  not  come  to  school : 


the  intended  effort  was  spoken  of.  "  Among 
Copts,"  it  was  said,  "some  chance  of  good 
might  possibly  be  expected;  but  Mohamme- 
dan girls,  and  of  the  lower  class,  too, — it  was 
certain  to  fail !"  Even  a  native  gentleman, 
educated  in  England,  echoed  nearly  the  same 
thing  that  had  been  said  both  at  home  and 
here,  by  Europeans,  though  he  cordially  wished 
success  to  every  project  that  had  for  its  end  the 
good  of  his  country.  "  They  do  not  wish  for 
education  in  the  lowest  class,"  said  he,  "espe- 
cially for  girls,  who  are,  as  you  know,  looked 
on  as  inferior  beings  altogether  by  Moslims. 


FIRST  ATTEMPT  AT  SCHOOL.  39 


Besides,  if  you  collected  a  few,  who  would 
come  from  curiosity,  some  bigot  would  soon 
frighten  away  the  children,  and  tell  the 
parents  you  wanted  to  make  Christians  of 
them." 

"  We  shall  tell  them,  then,  that  we  cannot 
make  Christians;  no  human  being  can.  In 
Ireland  the  priests  have  cleared  our  schools 
again  and  again  by  threats  and  persecution ; 
but  the  children  soon  return,  and  when  they 
find  it  useless  they  give  up  the  point.  The 
word  of  God  has  a  marvellous  power  in  itself; 
and  one  point  in  our  favour  is,  that  the  Mos- 
lim  religion  does  not  forbid  the  reading  of  our 
Scriptures." 

"  True,"  he  replied;  "  they  even  speak  of 
them  with  respect,  though  maintaining  that 
Christians  omit  a  part  of  the  gospel  which 
alludes,  as  they  pretend,  to  Mohammed.  But 
as  to  a  school,11 — and  here  followed  an  enume- 
ration of  a  whole  host  of  difficulties  and  hin- 
drances to  such  an  undertaking.  ~We  could 
only  reply,  "  Time  will  show." 


40 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


Perplexed,  but  not  in  despair,  the  little 
room  was  made  ready  in  spite  of  all.  The 
poor  Syrian  family  who  occupied  the  lower 
part  of  the  house,  and  whose  eldest  girl, 
though  but  thirteen,  was  to  be  my  sole  teacher 
and  assistant,  took  a  lively  interest  in  the 
affair,  and  their  children  helped  to  nail  up  a 
few  prints,  and  texts  in  Arabic,  the  latter 
written  out  fair  by  the  father  for  the  purpose. 
A  work-basket  was  stocked  and  alphabet-cards 
provided :  nothing  more  was  needed  to  begin 
with,  benches  and  tables  being  unnecessary 
for  an  Egyptian  school.  All  was  ready  except 
the  pupils :  how  to  procure  them  was  the 
problem. 

Our  servant  had  been  sent  to  ask  some  of 
his  wife's  friends  to  send  their  daughters ;  and, 
though  a  devout  Moslim,  he  seemed  to  take 
an  interest  in  the  novel  effort,  and  promised  to 
spare  no  eloquence;  that  is  to  say,  he  told  us 
he  would  talk  "plenty."  Meantime,  I,  my 
little  teacher,  and  her  mother,  looked  as 
anxiously  out  at  the  windows  as  if  listening 


FIRST  ATTEMPT  AT  SCHOOL. 


11 


for  some  one's  chariot-wheels.  The  good 
woman  hailed  an  old  seedsman  who  lived  oppo- 
site, and  who  was  just  eating  his  breakfast  with 
his  three  young  daughters,  and  in  most  con- 
ciliatory tones  asked  him  to  send  Cadiga  and 
her  sisters  to  learn  to  read  and  work.  "  But 
we  are  Moslims,  and  don't  want  to  learn,"  was 
the  reply,  given  in  a  most  sullen  voice. 

It  was  necessary  to  go  out  into  the  high- 
ways and  urge  them  to  come  in.  The  matron, 
therefore,  assumed  her  white  veil,  and  we  set 
out  together,  and  went  first  into  the  street, 
and  then  into  the  lane  near  the  house,  where 
girls  of  all  sizes  appeared  to  be  very  plentiful 
articles.  Every  woman  wTe  met  we  stopped 
and  accosted  in  a  friendly  way,  and  then  be- 
gan to  speak  of  the  intended  school  and  urged 
her  to  send  her  children.  Some  laughed  and 
passed  on;  others  said,  "Very  good;"  and  at 
last  we  returned  with  the  promise  of  several 
girls,  feeling  quite  triumphant  and  thankful. 

As  we  re-entered  the  house,  a  woman, 
wearing  a  quantity  of  coral  and  silver  orna- 

4* 


42 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


ments,  though  otherwise  poorly  dressed,  came 
in  with  us :  she  was  accompanied  by  a  nice- 
looking  child  of  nine  or  ten  years  old.  She 
was  invited  in  with  the  customary  salutation, 
"  Be  welcome !"  and,  after  throwing  back  her 
black  crape  face-veil,  she  began  to  pour  forth 
a  volley  of  words,  of  which  all  I  could  make 
out  was  that  her  child  was  timid  and  afraid 
to  stay,  but  she  would  send  her  to-morrow. 
Here  was  disappointment !  The  first  fish  seemed 
just  hooked,  and  now  it  was  escaping  the 
fisher  s  hands  !  However,  I  reassured  the  child 
by  caresses  and  kind  words,  and  they  went 
away,  promising  again  to  return,  which  they 
did  the  next  day;  and  I  heard  it  reported 
afterwards  that  the  woman  had  said,  approv- 
ingly, "She  kissed  my  child!"  And  she  did 
send  her  next  day ;  but  at  the  time  I  could 
not  be  sure  the  promise  would  be  kept.  Pre- 
sently, however,  two  little  girls,  about  eight 
years  old,  trotted  in,  followed  by  their  re- 
spective mothers  and,  I  think,  their  grand- 
mothers also ;  for  several  women  of  different 


FIRST  ATTEMPT  AT  SCHOOL.  43 

ages  and  degrees  of  rags  came  in,  and  there 
was  a  great  deal  of  unveiling  and  saluting  and 
chattering.  At  last  the  grown-up  children 
departed,  and  the  two  little  scholars,  with  the 
two  Syrian  children,  sisters  to  the  young 
teacher,  were  established  on  the  mat,  and  were 
soon  joined  by  several  more,  till  at  length,  by 
about  ten  o'clock,  we  had  nine  pupils  seated 
in  a  semcircle,  all  Moslims.  No  recruiting- 
sergeant  was  ever  half  so  well  pleased  with  a 
handful  of  future  soldiers ;  for  it  was  beating 
up  for  recruits  for  the  Lord.  Each  was  now 
asked  her  name  in  turn,  and  then  who  had 
made  her,  to  which  the  older  ones  replied, 
" Allah."  Several  little  ones  said,  "  Moham- 
med." 

The  first  verse  of  the  Bible,  "In  the  begin- 
ning," &c,  was  then  repeated  to  them,  and 
they  were  taught  to  say  it,  first  each  one  by 
herself,  and  then  all  together.  This  was  the 
beginning  of  instruction  for  them, — poor  chil- 
dren! The  young  teacher  was  too  inex- 
perienced to  be  able  to  explain  it,  so  I  did 


44 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


what  I  could  in  that  way ;  and  then  we  both 
set  to  teaching  the  five  first  letters  of  their 
difficult  alphabet,  till  they  seemed  to  be  get- 
ting tired  :  they  were  then  allowed  a  rest,  and 
afterwards  a  singing-lesson  was  commenced. 

The  neighbours  might  have  supposed  a  set 
of  cats  to  be  the  pupils,  if  they  listened  to  the 
discordant  sounds  which  the  first  attempt  at 
a  gamut  produced ;  but,  as  the  proverb  says, 
u  Children  and  fools  should  not  see  things  half 
done."  Three  months  later,  a  stranger  visit- 
ing the  school  was  delighted  at  the  sweet 
singing  of  the  hymns.  The  mewing  and 
squeaking  were  nearly  forgotten  by  that  time. 

The  children  were  delighted  when  the  work- 
hour  arrived,  the  real  inducement  to  most  of 
them  and  their  mothers  having  been  the 
needlework.  Perhaps  the  teachers  were  not 
sorry  when  every  little  brown  middle  finger 
was  supplied  with  a  new  thimble,  and  they 
could  sit  down  for  a  few  minutes.  No  one 
who  has  not  tried  it  can  conceive  the  difficulty 
of  teaching  those  who  have  not  only  no  wish 


FIEST  ATTEMPT  AT  SCHOOL. 


45 


to  learn,  lut  have  no  idea  of  what  learning  is, 
or  what  possible  good  is  to  be  gained  by  all 
this  trouble;  and  of  course  the  strain  upon 
the  mind  is  greatly  increased  when  one's 
knowledge  of  the  language  is  very  limited 
indeed. 

The  children  all  took  willingly  to  sewing ; 
indeed,  they  had  many  times  in  the  course  of 
the  forenoon  thrown  down  the  cards,  and 
cried  out,  "  The  work !  give  us  the  work !" 
The  English  needles  and  scissors  gave  much 
pleasure,  and  were  eagerly  examined  by  some 
mothers  and  elder  sisters  who  paid  visits  to 
the  school-room,  in  the  course  of  the  day,  to 
6ee  what  the  foreigner  was  doing  with  their 
little  ones ;  for,  if  ignorant,  they  are  usually 
very  fond  parents.  Some  brought  bread, 
bunches  of  raw  carrots,  or  some  such  dainty, 
and,  after  giving  it  to  the  children,  would 
squat  down  on  the  mat  to  watch  the  proceed- 
ings. Of  course,  it  did  rather  interfere  with 
business;  but  it  will  not  do  to  strain  a  new 
rope  too  tight ;  and,  bes'des,  Eastern  manners 


46 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


are  unlike  our's,  and  I  thought  it  wisest  never 
to  meddle  with  them  unless  some  real  evil 
was  in  question. 

Though  ragged  and  dirty,  the  children  had 
not  in  general  the  starved  looks  of  too  many 
scholars  in  our  own  country;  nor  do  ragged 
clothes  and  dirty  faces  imply  such  a  degree 
of  poverty  as  with  us.  In  the  higher  classes, 
a  child  is  often  intentionally  kept  dirty,  to 
avoid  the  evil  eye ;  and  perhaps  this  feeling 
may  have  given  the  idea  that  ragged  clothes 
were  no  disgrace.  In  the  country  villages  a 
blue  cotton  shirt  is  the  unvarying  costume  of 
boys  and  girls, — the  latter  having  the  addition 
of  a  veil,  the  former  of  a  cotton  cap.  But  in 
the  city  dress  is  more  varied,  and  most  of  the 
scholars  wore  coloured  print  trousers  and  little 
jackets  or  some  other  article:  they  looked 
much  as  if  the  contents  of  an  old-clothesman's 
bag  had  been  scattered  over  them  at  random, 
as  there  was  not  one  of  the  nine  in  whole  or 
well-fitting  garments.  Still,  when,  between 
coaxing  and  a  little  manual  aid,  the  young 


FIRST  ATTEMPT  AT  SCHOOL. 


47 


faces  were  all  washed  clean,  they  were  not  a 
bad-looking  circle :  several  had  very  pretty 
features.  The  soft,  black  eye  of  Egypt  has 
great  beauty;  and  they  all  have  white  and 
even  teeth. 

On  the  second  day  we  had  fourteen  scholars. 
As  they  entered,  each  kicked  off  her  slippers,  if 
she  possessed  any,  at  the  door  (I  think  more 
than  half  had  some  kind  of  shoe),  and  then  went 
up  to  kiss  the  hand  of  the  superintendent 
and  lay  it  on  her  head, — both  which  processes 
became  pleasanter  when  cleanly  habits  had 
come  a  little  into  fashion.  One  little  thing 
was  led  in  by  an  elder  sister,  a  fine  tall  girl, 
about  fourteen  or  fifteen,  wearing  the  common 
blue  cotton  garment,  with  its  limp  drapery, 
and  a  pink  net  one  within  it,  and  what  re- 
sembled some  one's  old  table-cloth  upon  her 
head.  This  was  Shoh  ! — a  name  almost  im- 
possible to  render  correctly  by  writing,  except 
perhaps  by  a  note  of  admiration  to  imply  the 
sudden  stop  of  the  sound:  it  signifie.*  'Ar- 
dently loved." 


48 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


We  did  not  know  at  this  time  that  Shoh 
was  married,  and  only  supposed  she  thought 
herself  too  old  to  come  to  school,  though 
manifestly  wishing  to  do  so.  She  came  in  and 
out,  listening  and  smiling,  and  at  last,  about 
noonday,  again  returned,  bringing  an  infant 
brother,  in  a  very  dirty  condition,  riding  on 
her  shoulder,  and  a  quantity  of  oranges  in  the 
end  of  her  veil.  These  last  she  poured  into 
my  lap,  being  a  present  to  show  her  good  will, 
and  at  almost  the  same  instant  the  baby  was 
adroitly  lowered  from  the  shoulder  and  popped 
upon  the  floor,  with  a  bit  of  sugarcane  stuffed 
into  his  little  hand ;  while  Shoh  planted  her- 
self triumphantly  on  the  mat  at  my  feet,  and, 
seizing  an  alphabet-card,  began  repeating  it 
in  an  under-tone. 

The  love  of  learning,  or  curiosity  to  see 
and  hear  something  new,  had  conquered  ma- 
tronly dignity;  and  from  that  time  she  paid 
frequent  visits  to  the  school. 


THE  EOAB'S  FAMILY. 


49 


CHATTER  VI. 

THE  BOAB'S  FAMILY. 

UR  Boab  and  his  family  may  be  taken, 
;^\J&  probably,  as  a  fair  specimen  of  "  Ragged 
Life  in  Egypt,"  or,  at  least,  in  Cairo;  for,  as 
far  as  we  could  see,  it  appeared  that  most  of 
the  same  grade  lived  nearly  in  the  same  way, 
except  that  such  small  habitations  as  the  one 
they  occupied  were  not  common  inside  the 
city,  though  often  seen  in  the  suburbs  and 
villages.  We  had  opportunities  of  watching 
the  life  of  these  our  nearest  neighbours,  which 
made  us  well  acquainted  with  their  habits: 
indeed,  it  was  impossible,  unless  we  shut  our 
eyes,  to  avoid  observing  them,  from  the  pecu- 
liar proximity  of  our  respective  dwellings. 
When  we  first  arrived  in  Bab-el-Bahar,  the 

D  5 


50 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


half-finished  lower  room  was  already  occupied 
by  the  person  alluded  to,  the  Boab, — i.e.  the 
gatekeeper  of  the  street,  or  rather  of  the  whole 
quarter.  It  seemed  that  he  had  intended 
quartering  himself  and  his  large  family  upon 
the  new-comers,  doubtless  hoping  that,  as 
foreigners,  they  might  be  persuaded  into 
thinking  it  a  customary  proceeding :  so  we 
found  them  sleeping  in  our  lower  room,  as 
aforesaid,  by  night,  and  hovering  about  the 
door  all  day.  But,  for  various  reasons,  it 
would  have  been  very  unwise  to  submit  to 
this;  and,  after  two  or  three  "warnings  to 
quit,"  they  left  the  shelter  of  our  roof,  and 
about  the  same  time  the  masons  and  their 
ragged  assistants  departed,  and  quiet  reigned 
in  the  new  household. 

Our  friend  the  Boab  was  not,  however, 
going  far  off,  as  was  soon  evident  from  the 
operations  set  on  foot  immediately  on  his  dis- 
missal :  in  a  few  days'  time  a  sort  of  lean-to, 
made  of  mud  and  plaster,  and  strongly  re- 
sembling a  pig-sty,  arose  just  outside  the 


THE  BOAB'S  FAMILY. 


51 


future  school-house,  whose  wall  served  as  a 
back  for  it.  Windows  it  had  none,  nor  could 
the  owners  stand  upright  in  it ;  but  there  was 
a  doorway,  which,  if  not  quite  regular  in  out- 
lines, yet  served  for  them  to  creep  in  and  out ; 
and  when  the  warm  weather  came,  and  the 
little  den  grew  close  (for  the  family  was  nu- 
merous), one  or  more  could  sleep  on  the  roof, 
nestled  down  among  the  heaps  of  straw  or 
other  rubbish  which  generally  lay  there. 

In  our  country,  such  a  ragged  troop,  in 
such  a  close  neighbourhood,  would  have  been 
a  great  nuisance ;  but  the  evil  was  a  good  deal 
diminished  in  Egypt,  because  the  climate  al- 
lowed them  to  live  all  day  out-of-doors ;  nor 
did  they  incommode  us  by  showing  any  desire 
to  pry  into  our  concerns  or  meddle  with  any 
of  our  property.  The  children  neither  begged 
nor  stole,  nor,  except  sitting  on  the  door-step 
and  keeping  it  littered  with  the  stones  and  bits 
of  crockery  which  served  as  toys,  did  they  at 
all  interfere  with  their  neighbours'  residence, 
— which  was  lucky,  as,  had  they  been  ever  so 


52 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGi'PT. 


annoying,  I  do  not  know  that  we  could  have 
sent  them  away. 

The  family  were,  I  believe,  more  "  respect- 
able" than  one  might  have  imagined  from  their 
squalid  exterior.  Our  sketch  represents  the 
father,  as  he  often  stood,  leaning  against  his 
hovel,  which  was  considerably  lower  than  his 
head,  enjoying  his  evening  pipe :  he  was  by 
far  the  most  decent-looking  of  the  party, 
having  always  a  turban  of  comparative  clean- 
liness, and  a  pair  of  red  slippers.  His  wife, 
if  not  quarrelling  with  her  neighbours  in  the 
lane,  or  hunting  down  her  children,  or  fetch- 
ing water  from  the  river  (which  were  the 
chief  varieties  of  her  life),  might  be  seen 
indistinctly  from  the  door,  grovelling  in  the 
dark  recesses  of  her  little  abode,  wrapped  in 
faded  and  dirty  blue-cotton  garments,  which 
hung  limp  and  ragged  about  her  thin  shoul- 
ders, while  her  brown  and  wrinkled  throat 
was  decorated  by  a  row  of  silver  coins  dimmed 
by  age  and  dust,  three  or  four  of  which  would 
have  procured  her  new  trousers  and  a  clean 


THE  JOAB'S  FAMILY. 


53 


veil.  In  the  dust,  just  before  our  door,  a  little 
dusky  creature,  between  one  and  two  years 
old,  is  rolling  about:  that  is  the  Boab's 
youngest  hope, — and  one  of  the  right  kind, 
too ;  for  it  is  a  boy  !  The  family  were  con- 
sidered unfortunate  in  having  a  much  larger 
proportion  of  girls  among  their  tribe  of  chil- 
dren; and  though  three  of  them,  I  think, 
had  been  disposed  of  in  marriage,  there  still 
remained  more  girls  than  Mrs.  Boab  at  all 
approved  of.  One  of  these  was  particularly 
fond  of  sitting  on  the  roof  of  the  family  sty, 
enjoying  a  piece  of  sugarcane  quite  as  much 
as  her  father  did  his  pipe,  or  fighting  for  it 
with  the  neighbours'  little  boys  who  were 
playing  in  the  rubbish  with  her.  One  little 
fellow,  a  neighbour's  son,  who  had  a  solemn 
expression  of  countenance  which  contrasted 
oddly  with  his  ragged  blue  shirt  and  cotton 
cap,  rejoiced  in  the  appellation  of  "  Abdul- 
Nebby,"  or,  the  Servant  of  the  Prophet ! 

He  and  a  troop  of  such  small  fry  were  con- 
stantly rolling  about  with  the  Boab's  children, 

5* 


54 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


and  were  objects  of  interest  and  concern  which 
they  little  guessed, — poor  things! — as  they 
laughed  and  quarrelled  over  the  dates  given 
them  from  our  window. 

A  little  degree  of  influence  began,  after  a 
time,  to  be  gained :  they  would  sometimes 
stop  in  a  dispute  at  the  voice  of  gentle  expos- 
tulation, and  a  little  girl  would  sometimes  run 
for  refuge  under  the  wall,  when  tyrannized 
over  by  a  boy,  and  call  out  for  redress  with 
upturned  face  and  imploring  eyes  directed  to 
the  windows. 

In  due  time  Salhah,  the  little  maiden  who  sat 
on  the  roof,  became  a  scholar, — though  never 
a  very  regular  one ;  for  she  was  idle  and  saucy, 
and  sometimes  ran  off  to  play  with  the  boys 
again  just  as  lessons  were  commenced. 

One  day  she  took  a  "huff,"  as  children  say, 
and  stayed  from  school  for  a  week,  because 
another  girl  had  torn  the  arms  off  a  doll  which 
she  had  with  some  ingenuity  manufactured 
out  of  a  piece  of  rag!  Just  after  this  we 
heard  th#t  Salhah  was  going  to  be  married ! 


THE  BOAB'S  FAMILY. 


55 


It  seemed  a  horrid  mockery  of  the  name  of 
marriage,  when  this  little  creature's  utter  child- 
ishness was  so  plainly  shown  by  her  conduct : 
she  was  eleven  years  old,  but  neither  in  looks 
nor  manners  was  at  all  older  than  girls  of  that 
age  among  city  children  of  the  poor  with  us. 
It  was  found  that  the  mother  selfishly  wished 
to  get  rid  of  the  burden  of  her  support,  and 
that  the  mother  of  a  lad  about  fifteen,  who 
lived  near,  wished,  with  equal  selfishness,  to 
get  a  drudge  who  should  carry  water  and  per- 
form menial  offices  for  her  household.  Neither 
Salhah  nor  the  boy  were  consulted,  apparently, 
but  the  two  mothers  arranged  every  thing,  and 
made  a  feast  to  celebrate  the  betrothal.  This 
was  at  the  house  of  the  bridegroom's  family, 
the  sty  being  certainly  incapable  of  affording 
a  guest-chamber  even  of  the  humblest  descrip- 
tion. The  feast  did  not  consist  of  a  lamb 
roasted  whole,  or  any  such  dainties;  but  "  they 
cooked  some  meat"  we  were  told,  with  an  air 
that  implied  this  was  no  ordinary  treat. 
Some  sweetmeats  were  given  to  the  bride- 


56 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


elect,  which  were  all  she  obtained  of  the  ban- 
quet. However,  her  bridegroom  made  her  a 
present,  with  which  he  had  been  provided  for 
the  occasion,  as  was  customary.  As  they  were 
poor,  this  only  consisted  of  two  piastres, — about 
eight  cents.  "  What  did  Salhah  buy  with  the 
money?"  I  asked.  "  She  bought  more  sweet- 
meats, and  then  her  mother  beat  her  when  she 
found  she  had  done  so,"  was  the  reply.  Poor 
child !  how  we  longed,  on  hearing  this  fresh 
proof  of  her  youthfulness,  to  have  her  again 
at  her  alphabet  and  needle  !  Happily,  she  did 
return  to  us  very  shortly,  for  the  match  was 
ultimately  broken  off  by  her  own  perse- 
verance: she  had  more  spirit  than  a  Moslim 
girl  often  dares  to  show,  and  persisted  in  re- 
fusing, till  the  parents  gave  way, — perhaps 
aided  by  the  indifference  of  the  boy-bride- 
groom, and  the  facility  with  which  her  place 
could  be  supplied,  as  little  ragged  girls  were 
not  scarce  in  that  quarter. 

A  younger  sister  of  Salhah 's,  called  Haanem, 
was  a  more  pleasing  object  to  look  at,  being  a 


THE  BOAB's  FAMILY. 


57 


dear  little  thing  of  four  years  old,  -vTith  a  round, 
plump  face,  and  large,  bright,  b'ack  eyes,  and 
a  sweet  plaintive  voice.  She  itsed  to  trot  in 
among  the  earliest  scholars  in  her  scanty 
blue  cotton  garment  (I  never  saw  her  in  the 
possession  of  a  second),  and  an  old  faded  ker- 
chief tightly  tied  round  her  little  head,  with 
two  ends  hanging  down  behind.  In  spite  of 
this  unbecoming  costume,  Haanem  was  a  pretty 
child,  and  graceful  in  her  ways.  It  was 
amusing  to  see  the  earnest  look  with  which 
she  would  bring  her  morsel  of  sewing  to  ex- 
hibit, and  to  hear  her  lisp  out,  "  Look  !  is  this 
nice?" 

A  married  daughter  of  the  Boab  came,  now 
and  then,  to  spend  a  few  days  with  her 
parents;  but  where  or  how  she  was  accom- 
modated remained  a  mystery  to  the  last :  pos- 
sibly some  of  the  young  folks  "  camped  out" 
to  make  room. 

To  do  her  justice,  the  mother  was  ready  to 
dispose  of  her  children,  as  was  seen  in  Salhah's 
case ;  but  the  expense  and  trouble  of  support 


58 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


was  more  of  a  burden  than  want  of  house- 
room  to  their  feelings.  The  Boab  received 
four  piastres  a  month  from  us,  and  probably 
the  same,  or  rather  less,  from  thirty  or  forty 
other  houses.  The  very  poor  would  pay  no- 
thing, of  course.  This  would  make  a  suffi- 
cient income  to  live  decently  in  that  climate : 
so  that  I  conceive  it  was  more  ignorance 
than  actual  poverty  that  kept  them  in  so  low 
a  condition. 

What  the  business  of  the  Boab  was  I  never 
could  clearly  ascertain.  He  always  seemed 
to  be  loitering  about  our  door,  solemnly 
smoking  a  long  pipe,  or  doing  nothing,  by 
day,  and  at  night  disturbing  our  rest  by 
calling  out,  in  a  loud  voice,  "  Yadai !"  at 
certain  hours  in  the  night.  We  were  in- 
formed, however,  that  he  was  guardian  of  the 
street;  and  perhaps  some  terrible  evil  might 
have  occurred  had  he  not  been  there.  And 
evary  morning  he  went  round  to  all  the  true 
Muslims'  doors,  rousing  the  people  and  ex- 


* 


CfiilD  life  in  Cgnpt. 


"  lie  always  seemed  to  be  loitering  about  our  door,  solemnly  smoking  a 
long  pipe."  P-  58, 


THE  BOAB'S  FAMILY. 


59 


norting  them  to  get  up  and  go  to  prayers. 
These  were  all  the  offices  which  we  could  dis- 
cover ;  and  if  they  were  all  his  business,  he 
certainly  did  not  work  very  hard  for  his 
daily  bread  and  onion ! 


60 


CHILD-LIFE  IM  EGYPT. 


CHAPTER  VII. 

SHOH  AND  FATMEH. 

HOUGH  a  matron,  even  of  fifteen,  could 
.not  be  expected  to  be  a  regular  attend- 
ant at  school,  my  young  friend  Sholi  did  her 
best  to  come  when  she  could.  At  first  her 
husband  beat  her  for  coming;  but  when  he 
was  in  a  better  humour,  or  absent  with  his 
donkey,  she  would  run  across  the  lane  and 
enter  the  school  with  a  triumphant  expression 
in  her  odd,  bright  face,  and  seat  herself,  with 
a  card  in  her  hand,  upon  the  mat.  But  she 
was  too  full  of  questions  to  give  steady  atten- 
tion to  the  alphabet,  and,  as  there  was  little 
.probability  of  her  staying  long  enough  to 
learn  to  read,  I  was  glad  to  let  her  get  what 
knowledge  she  could  in  her  own  way.  After 


SHOH  AND  FATMEH. 


61 


a  time  tlie  husband  gave  her  permission  to 
come,  when  not  engaged  in  household  work ; 
and  often  she  would  rush  into  school,  her 
hands  all  white  with  flour  from  bread-making, 
or  with  a  piece  of  needlework  on  her  arm, 
for  she  could  sew  in  the  coarse  style  used  by 
native  women,  and  soon  improved  very  much 
in  this  branch. 

The  worthy  Syrian  matron,  Um  Usuf  (i.e. 
Joseph's  mother,  as  she  was  always  called), 
had  now  taken  charge  of  the  school,  as  her 
daughter  Menni  was  found  too  young  to  be 
my  sole  teacher;  and  this  good  woman,  whom 
I  had  reason  to  believe  a  sincere  Christian, 
took  much  pains  to  talk  to  Shoh ;  and  while 
the  younger  children  were  eating  their  bread 
at  noon,  I  used  to  make  Menni  read  aload 
part  of  the  gospel,  or  of  a  simple  Arabic 
tract,  to  Shoh  and  some  of  the  older  scholars. 

The  matron  was  fully  imbued  with  the 
gospel  doctrines,  and  pretty  well  acquainted 
with  Scripture,  at  least  with  the  New  Testa- 
ment, but  was  quite  inexperienced  in  teaching. 


62 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


We  rather  resembled  the  men  in  "  Sandford 
and  Merton,"  one  of  whom  was  lame  but  could 
see,  the  other  blind  but  with  good  legs,  who 
got  along  the  road  by  assisting  each  other. 
So,  with  a  superintendent  deficient  in  lan- 
guage and  a  teacher  inexperienced  in  teach- 
ing, we  were  one  blind  and  the  other  lame. 
However,  pains  were  not  wanting,  and  made 
up  for  some  deficiencies. 

One  day  I  allowed  Shoh  to  pay  me  a  pri- 
vate visit,  which  she  thought  a  great  privilege. 
Eobinson  Crusoe's  man  Friday  could  hardly 
have  been  more  astonished  and  delighted  at 
the  very  simple  and  even  scanty  furniture  of 
the  apartment.  The  curtains  of  white  cotton, 
bound  with  red,  seemed  splendid  in  her  eyes; 
the  home-made  pictures,  fastened  with  pins 
to  the  white-washed  walls,  the  toilet,  covered 
with  chintz,  and  the  general  air  of  cleanliness 
and  order,  made  it  appear  a  luxurious  room  to 
poor  Shoh,  accustomed  to  a  mud-walled  and 
dirty  abode  in  the  neighbouring  densely- 
peopled  lane.    A  small  work-box,  with  its 


SHOH  AND  FATMEH. 


63 


contents,  delighted  her  as  much  as  if  she  had 
been  a  child  of  two  years  old ;  and  when  she 
drew  from  it  a  yard-measure  made  of  a  pol- 
ished shell,  and  found  out  the  mystery  of 
pulling  out  and  winding  up  the  ribbon  in  it, 
her  ecstasy  knew  no  bounds,  and  she  clapped 
herself  violently  on  the  chest,  as  if  to  knock 
the  breath  out  of  her  body,  rolling  up  her 
eyes,  and  exclaiming,  "  Wonderful!  wonder- 
ful!" 

It  was  pleasant  to  see,  with  all  her  childish- 
ness, how  new  ideas  gradually  began  to  take 
root ;  and  though  her  versatility  would  often 
cause  her  to  interrupt  her  teachers,  just  as 
her  attention  seemed  fixed,  by  observing,  "Let 
me  try  your  ring  on  my  finger :  I  want  to  see 
your  thimble,"  &c,  still  she  would  return 
after  a  time  to  the  subject,  and  she  soon 
learned  to  associate  the  book  of  God  with  the 
school  and  with  us ;  and  it  is  surely  something 
gained  when  the  Bible  is  known  as  our  flag  and 
insignia,  as  it  were,  among  an  ignorant  neigh- 
bourhood such  as  this !    On  a  subsequent  visit, 


04 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


Skoh  took  up  the  English  Bible  which  lay  on 
the?  table  and  asked  what  it  was ;  and  I  took 
the  opportunity  to  explain  that,  though  in  an- 
other language,  it  was  the  same  as  the  book 
Um  Usuf  read  to  her  in  school,  and  tried  to 
impress  her  with  a  sense  of  its  value.  She 
asked  more  questions  than  I  was  able  to  an- 
swer, and  seemed  interested  and  pleased  by 
the  conversation. 

It  was  very  amusing  to  see  the  young  ma- 
tron's delight  when,  after  an  absence  of  several 
days,  she  obtained  time  or  permission  to  make 
her  appearance  among  us  again.  She  bounced 
in  with  such  a  look  of  joyous  triumph,  seized 
my  hand  to  kiss  as  usual,  and  then  skipped 
round  the  room,  nodding  to  the  scholars,  till 
at  length  she  flung  herself  down  in  a  corner, 
pulled  the  yellow  kerchief  off  her  head,  in 
order  to  show  that  her  plaited  locks  were 
clean  and  neat,  then  sprang  up  again  and  ran 
to  the  window-seat,  where  soap  and  water 
stood,  to  wash  her  hands,  holding  them  up 
significantly,  as  if  to  say,  "  I  know  you  are 


SHOH  AND  FATMEH.  65 

fanciful  about  cleanliness,"  and  finally  snatched 
up  a  card  from  the  shelf  and  commenced  re- 
peating her  alphabet  aloud.  I  made  her  a  pre- 
sent of  a  small  pair  of  scissors,  having  lately- 
received  a  parcel  of  them  from  home ;  and  cer- 
tainly the  superstition  about  edge-tools  cutting 
love  did  not  prove  right  in  this  case,  for  poor 
Shoh's  regard  had  not  diminished  when  I 
parted  from  her,  and  her  joy  at  the  gift  was 
unbounded.  She  held  them  aloft,  gazing  with 
comic  admiration  at  their  brightness,  pressed 
them  to  her  heart  at  the  risk  of  wounding 
herself,  and  finally  relieved  her  excited  feel- 
ings by  catching  Menni  round  the  neck  and 
half  suffocating  her  in  a  warm  embrace,  while 
she  repeated,  "  The  scissors  !    The  scissors!" 

Poor  Shoh  was  not  fortunate  in  a  mother, 
as  I  soon  discovered.  We  were  engaged  in 
singing,  one  day,  the  children  beginning  to  get 
some  notion  of  a  tune,  and  Shoh's  hearty 
though  somewhit  unmusical  voice  joining  us, 
when  an  ugly,  blear-eyed  old  woman  walked 
in  with  an  extremely  dirty  child,  of  two  years 

E  6* 


06 


CHILI>-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


old,  on  her  shoulder.  Having  deposited  hira 
on  the  floor,  she  squatted  down  and  began  to 
make  her  observations.  These  visitors  were 
Shoh's  mother  and  her  youngest  brother, — for 
they  were  a  very  numerous  family.  When  we 
ceased  singing  the  old  woman  began  to  talk; 
and  I  gathered  from  her  voluble  speech  that 
more  children  would  attend  school  if  the 
mothers  did  not  fear  that  we  shou)d  carry 
them  out  of  the  country. 

I  exclaimed  indignantly  against  the  idea  of 
being  engaged  in  a  kidnapping  transaction, 
"  Listen,  0  woman  !  We  have  girls  plenty  in 
our  country, — more  girls  than  we  want.  Why 
should  we  take  yours?" 

Shoh  presently  interposed,  assuring  her 
mother  that  she  had  'seen  pictures  of  the 
lady's  own  sister's  daughters,  so  little  and 
pretty  and  nice!  "She  want  yours,  indeed!" 
pointing,  rather  scornfully,  to  her  young  coun- 
try-folk, who  really,  if  clean  and  neatly  clad, 
would  have  looked  quite  as  well,  in  their  way, 


SHOH  AND  FATMEH. 


67 


as  any  set  of  English  children ;  though  we  had 
no  desire  to  carry  them  away ! 

Um  Usuf  and  I  did  our  best  to  explain  that' 
we  had  not  only  children  but  schools  in  our 
land,  and  that  our  poor  girls  were  taught  to 
read  and  to  know  God  in  them. 

"  Here  your  girls  are  not  taught :  so  we  have 
come  to  teach  them." 

a0h,  there  was  a  Frank  school  kept  by 
French  nuns,"  the  old  woman  said,  "  where 
several  Copt  girls  went." 

"  That  is  not  like  ours,"  I  replied :  u  those 
ladies  teach  the  children  to  bow  before  pic- 
tures and  images;  they  are  1  servants  of  idols'* 
(the  common  Arab  term  for  Eoman  Catholics), 
and  God's  book  is  not  read  in  their  schools. 
But  here  we  have  no  images,  and  only  pray  to 
God." 

We  endeavoured  to  show  that  it  was  not  for 
our  own  benefit,  but  for  the  children's,  that  we 
acted ;  but  it  is  difficult  to  make  people  who 


*  Abdul  Soona. 


68 


CHILD-LIFE  _N  EGYPT. 


are  unaccustomed  to  receive  any  gratuitous 
benefit,  beyond  a  mere  trifling  alms,  under- 
stand such  a  course  of  action;  and  Shoh's 
mother  looked  as  though  she  had  both  lite- 
rally and  figuratively  grovelled  in  the  dust  too 
long  to  believe  in  any  unselfish  or  generous 
affections. 

But  Shoh  herself  listened  eagerly,  and  after 
a  while  whispered  to  Menni,  looking  across  at 
me  with  a  meaning  expression, — 

"  Does  she  love  me  ?" 

"  Oh,  my  dear,  certainly  I  do,  and  all  of 
you :  I  want  you  to  go  to  heaven  with  me, 

shoh  r 

The  girl's  eyes,  as  she  listened  to  this  reply, 
had  that  touching  look  which  we  observe  some- 
times in  a  very  little  child  when  its  dawning 
intellect  begins  faintly  to  perceive  regions  of 
thought  which  it  cannot  fathom.  It  is  curious 
to  note  this  strange,  questioning,  wistful  look 
in  a  grown  person,  if  poor  Shoh  could  be  so 
called  indeed.  We  may  have  long  to  wait,  for 
the  difficulties  that  surround  her  are  many;  but 


SHOH  AND  FATMEH. 


69 


eurely  God  has  purposes  of  mercy  for  her, 
sooner  or  later. 

Shoh  had  an  older  sister,  called  Fatmeh,  who 
lived  at  Old  Cairo,  which  is  more  than  two 
miles  from  Cairo  itself,  but  who  came  to  spend 
a  few  days  with  her  family  some  little  time 
after  the  school  had  been  started.  She  had 
lately  lost  all  her  three  children  by  croup,  the 
last  only  a  fortnight  ago;  and  this  severe 
affliction  had  so  broken  her  heart  that  she  was 
indifferent  to  all  her  usual  occupations,  and 
M  went  mourning"  all  the  day.  But  her  mind 
was  naturally  inclined  to  the  subject  of  death, 
so  dreaded  by  Moslims  in  general ;  and  some- 
thing she  heard  from  her  young  sister  about 
the  new  school  and  what  she  had  learned 
there  made  her  go  and  pay  Um  Usuf  a  visit, 
in  order  to  ask  her  some  questions. 

The  excellent  matron  was  only  too  glad  of 
the  opportunity,  and  told  her  every  thing,  as 
she  expressed  it, — meaning  all  of  the  great 
and  blessed  tidings  of  salvation  which  so  igno- 
rant a  mind  could  receive  at  cue  sitting. 


70 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


Poor  Fatmeh's  heart  was  softened  by  the 
tears  of  sorrow,  like  furrows  by  the  rain- 
drops from  heaven,  and  she  begged  to  stay 
and  help  the  good  woman  in  her  washing,  in 
order  to  hear  more  and  to  tell  her  griefs.  "  I 
will  be  your  servant :  I  will  do  any  thing,  if 
I  may  stay  all  the  day,"  she  said. 

Next  day  she  came  to  visit  me.  A  greater 
contrast  to  the  active,  vigorous,  intelligent,  but 
hot-tempered  Shoh  could  not  be  found.  The 
sister  was  at  least  a  head  shorter,  thin,  slight, 
and  with  more  insignificant  features,  but  with  a 
sweet,  sorrowful  expression  in  her  gentle  black 
eyes,  which  looked  heavy  with  long  weeping. 
As  she  sat  on  the  floor,  her  hands  resting  on 
her  lap  in  an  attitude  of  meek  despondency,  it 
seemed  as  if  sorrow  had  resumed  its  sway, 
and  the  interest  which  a  new  subject  had  ex- 
cited in  her  was  for  the  time  forgotten. 

Presently  she  noticed  the  portrait  of  a  little 
child  on  the  wall  near  her :  her  lost  darlings 
could  hardly  have  been  very  like  that  blue- 
eyed,  fair-haired  creature ;  but  still  it  was  a 


SHOH  AND  FATMEH. 


71 


child,  and  poor  Fatmeh  gazed  for  a  moment, 
saying,  in  a  soft  voice,  "Very  pretty!  very 
pretty!"  then  bent  forward  and  kissed  it,  and 
burst  into  tears,  hiding  her  face  in  her  blue 
veil.  Oh,  the  sorrow  of  a  mother  without 
hope !  No  one  who  has  not  seen  it  can  con- 
ceive how  grievous  it  is  to  witness.  I  put  my 
hand  on  her  shoulder,  and  tried  to  comfort 
her  by  the  sympathy  which  is  a  master-key 
for  sorrowful  hearts  in  all  lands,  and  gradually 
won  her  to  listen  and  to  speak  to  me.  She 
said  they  had  told  her  her  boys  would  have 
thousands  of  Houris  to  wait  on  them  by-and- 
by  in  Mohammed's  Paradise ;  but  she  did  not 
seem  to  believe  it,  nor  to  care  for  these  mon- 
strous fables :  it  was  her  own  baby-boys  her 
heart  yearned  for,  and  no  falsehoods  could  fill 
that  aching,  weary  heart. 

"  Dear  Fatmeh,  God  is  good." 

"Yes,  he  is  good,"  she  said,  despondingly, 
- — as  if  she  would  fain  add,  u  that  is  nothing  to 
me." 

"  They  tell  you  that  he  does  not  love  women," 


72 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


I  continued;  "but,  Fatmeh,  that  is  not  time, 
he  loves  us  all,  all,  better  than  we  love  each 
other."  I  endeavoured  to  tell  her  of  the 
love  of  God  in  Christ,  of  which  I  knew  Um 
Usuf  had  spoken  the  day  before.  The  Mos- 
lims,  having  no  belief  in  a  Mediator,  a  "  Days- 
man," who  can  lay  his  hand  on  suffering  hu- 
manity, cannot,  of  course,  understand  the  love 
of  God,  though  they  often  speak  of  his  wis- 
dom, greatness,  &c.  The  women  are  told  that 
God  cannot  love  them ;  and  they  are  not  even 
encouraged  to  pray.  This  has  led  to  the  be- 
lief that  all  Moslims  hold  women  to  be  with- 
out souls, — which  is  not  strictly  true:  indi- 
viduals may  hold  it,  but  it  is  not  one  of  their 
dogmas,  though  they  look  on  the  souls  of 
women  as  of  very  little  consequence:  so  that 
virtually  it  comes  to  the  same  thing. 

Whether  Fatmeh's  husband  believed  her  to 
possess  a  soul  worth  caring  for  or  not,  I  can- 
not tell ;  but  certainly  he  was  very  kind  to  her 
and  fond  of  her ;  and,  as  she  was  not  handsome, 
it  must  have  been  for  her  amiable,  gentle  dis- 


SHOH  AND  FATMEH. 


73 


position  that  he  loved  her; — which  did  both 
parties  credit  in  a  Mohammedan  country. 
He  left  Old  Cairo,  at  least  for  a  time,  and 
came  to  live  near  her  family,  who  lived  close 
to  us,  on  purpose  to  please  her,  and  allowed 
her  to  visit  us  as  often  as  she  liked.  I  gave 
her  washing  and  other  things  to  do,  as  a  pre- 
text for  bringing  her  under  Christian  influ- 
ence as  much  as  possible.  Often  she  would 
come  in  when  we  were  at  morning  worship 
among  ourselves,  and  sit  reverently  watching, 
though  she  could  not  understand;  and  she 
was  always  ready  to  listen  to  Um  Usuf  when 
she  talked  or  read  to  her  after  school-hours. 
By  degrees  her  extreme  sorrow  diminished, 
and,  though  far  inferior  to  Shoh  in  mind,  her 
more  docile  disposition  gave  her  an  advantage, 
as  did  also  her  husband.  Poor  Shoh  often  got 
into  trouble, — first  with  her  mother,  then  her 
husband,  then  her  mother  again,  and  so  on. 
The  latter  especially  had  a  really  savage  tem- 
per when  roused,  and  sometimes  beat  her  most 
cruelly.    But  I  had  hopes  of  both  the  sisters 

7 


74 


CHILD- LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


long  before  leaving  them :  no  one  could  help 
feeling  hopeful  who  had  seen  them  listening 
to  the  history  of  the  crucifixion,  which  I  made 
Um  Usuf  read  to  them  one  day,  when  they  came 
into  school  during  work-hours,  and  seen  how 
Shoh's  bright  face  worked  with  emotion,  and 
the  tears  stood  in  her  eyes,  and  how  the  sewing 
dropped  from  Fatmeh's  hand,  and  how  they 
looked  at  one  another,  and  sometimes  touched 
each  other,  as  if  to  say,  **  Do  you  hear  that?" 
In  spite  of  many  hindrances  and  difficulties, 
we  have  cause  for  thankfulness  and  hope  about 
these  two.  The  seed  is  cast  on  the  water  in 
faith,  and  after  many  days  we  mav  find  it  with 
joy. 


SCENES  IN  THE  DESERT. 


75 


CHAPTER  VIII. 


SCENES  IN  THE  DESERT. 


the  winter  season  nothing  in  the  neigh- 


open  desert.  It  was  about  the  middle  of 
February  that  we  pitched  our  tent  in  a  fa- 
vourite haunt, — a  ravine  in  the  Wady  Asfer, 
or  Yellow  Valley.  One  day  a  troop  of  little 
girls  suddenly  emerged  from  behind  a  project- 
ing cliff :  it  seemed  as  if  they  must  have  issued 
from  the  clefts  of  the  recks;  for  where  they 
started  from  no  one  could  guess.  They  said 
they  lived  in  a  Bedouin  village  among  these 
hills.  A  bright-eyea1,  joyous  group  they  were, 
from  seven  to  twelve  or  thirteen  years  old, 
apparently,  clad  in  rags,  but  as  healthy  and 
vigorous  as  possible,  their  active  movements 
full  of  wild  grace,  and  their  black  eyes  and 


bourhood  of  Cairo  is  so  pleasant  as  the 


76 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


shining  teeth  looking  like  gems  in  their  darK, 
bronzed  faces,  as  they  sprang  about  the  rocks 
like  kids,  laughing  and  asking  loudly  for  back- 
sheesh ! 

I  could  not  give  money,  but  produced  some 
cakes  from  the  lunch-basket, — which  gave  great 
satisfaction.  Several  of  the  girls  danced  about 
holding  the  novel  dainty  aloft  in  their  hands 
with  a  variety  of  gesticulations :  it  might  be 
called  the  "  Cake  dance." 

The  faithful  Daoud,  always  thinking  of  the 
interests  of  his  lady,  began  to  talk  to  them 
about  the  school,  and  said  they  ought  to  come. 

The  distance,  I  feared,  would  make  this  im- 
possible; but  the  idea  of  a  girls  school,  and 
of  any  one  attempting  to  teach  girls  to  read, 
diverted  them  extremely,  and,  amid  shouts 
of  laughter,  they  cried,  "  Oh,  teacher !  oh, 
teacher!" 

By-and-by  the  group  was  increased  by  two 
or  three  lads,  brothers  to  these  girls,  and  by 
a  man  and  woman,  who  seemed  to  own  several 
of  the  young  folk.    The  woman's  face  waa 

i 


SCENES  IN  THE  DESERT. 


77 


mostly  concealed  by  her  face- veil  of  dirty  lilac 
crape ;  but  her  eyes  peeped  above  it  with  a 
bright  look,  and  the  man,  who  had  but  one 
eye,  was  rather  an  intelligent  fellow.  They 
all  squatted  round  us  in  a  circle,  and  began,  in 
true  Eastern*  style,  asking  us  about  our  rela- 
tives, reminding  one  strongly  of  Scriptural 
expressions  : — "  Is  your  father  yet  alive  ?" 
"  Have  you  a  mother?"  "  How  many  brothers 
and  sisters  have  you  ?" 

Nothing  can  be  more  genuine  than  the 
sympathy  of  Arabs  for  the  loss  of  relatives, 
but  most  especially  for  that  of  a  mother, 
which  they  justly  consider  so  irreparable. 

The  woman's  eyes  glistened  with  tears  as 
she  heard  us  tell  of  a  broken  family  circle, 
and  she  turned  to  her  husband,  repeating  the 
information  with  a  voice  that  expressed  much 
feeling.  I  endeavoured  to  tell  them  some- 
thing about  that  better  land  where  those  who 
loved  God  and  believed  in  his  word  went  after 
death.  We  were  not  yet  scholars  enough  to 
read  to  them  out  of  the  Arabic  Testament, 


78 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


though  we  had  one,  and  showed  it  to  them, 
and  it  served  as  a  subject  for  conversation. 
They  all  looked  at  it  with  curiosity,  and  the 
boys  and  man  each  took  it  in  their  hands 
and  seemed  to  wish  to  know  the  contents. 

"  You  have  heard  of  Moses?"  I  said, — know- 
ing that  Moses  is  a  sort  of  hero  in  these 
regions,  nearly  all  the  wells  of  the  desert 
being  called  after  him. 

"  Oh,  yes, — Nebby  Moussa:  we  know  about 
him." 

"  God  spoke  to  Moses :  you  have  heard 
that?" 

"Yes,  yes;  we  know." 

"Well,"  I  continued,  "God  does  not  speak 
now  to  men.  But  listen  :  if  you  had  a  father 
far  away,  he  could  send  you  a  letter,  could  he 
not  ?  You  might  thus  know  what  he  wished 
you  to  do  ?" 

"Yes,  lady,  certainly,"  said  the  man. 

"  God's  book  is  his  letter  to  man.  We 
read  in  this  book  all  God  wishes  us  to  do  and 
believe." 


SCENES  IN  THE  DESERT. 


79 


u  Good  !  good  !  A  letter  !  I  understand !" 
he  exclaimed,  a  light  of  intelligence  shining  in 
every  feature  of  his  rugged  countenance,  while 
the  old  man  gave  a  grunt  of  acquiescence. 

I  endeavoured,  as  well  as  very  imperfect 
Arabic  would  allow,  to  explain  how  "holy 
men  of  old"  had  written  this  book,  taught  by 
his  Spirit,  and  how,  though  put  into  various 
languages,  it  was  all  one,  God's  letter  to  sinful 
man. 

"You  ought  to  come  here  every  day,"  said 
the  man.  "  Look,  you  will  soon  know  Arabic 
well :  then  come  often  here  and  see  us.  Come, 
and  read  and  talk  to  us.  Come,  and  stay  all 
day,  till  the  sun  sets,  and  then,  when  you  want 
to  sleep,  I  will  give  you  a  bed  in  my  house." 
And  he  made  signs  of  spreading  something 
on  the  ground  as  he  spoke,  to  make  his  mean- 
ing clearer. 

It  was  certainly  a  queer  idea  for  European 
ladies  to  sleep  in  one  of  those  hovels,  swarm- 
ing with  vermin  and  full  of  goats  and  ragged 
children,  but  his  good  intention  was  unmis- 


80 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


takable :  he  was  cordially  seconded  by  the 
woman,  and  all  the  party  seemed  full  of  friendly 
feeling. 

There  was  no  thought  of  gain ;  for  none  of 
them,  except  the  little  girls,  when  we  first  saw 
them,  had  made  any  demands. 

This  meeting  seems  to  give  grounds  for  think- 
ing that  there  are  among  the  long-neglected 
Arabs  of  the  desert  some  who  would  welcome 
a  man  bringing  the  tidings  of  salvation  among 
the  black  tents  of  Kedar,  and  who  would  soon 
be  ready  to  cry,  "How  beautiful  on  the  moun- 
tains are  the  feet  of  them  that  publish  peace!" 

No  one,  however,  who  has  had  much  ex- 
perience in  such  matters,  will  be  surprised 
that  our  next  rencontre  was  less  successful: 
at  home  and  abroad  there  is  always  this 
variation. 

Several  attempts  to  find  the  village  spoken 
of  by  one  of  our  new  acquaintances  as  his  re- 
sidence had  failed.  The  sand-hills  and  rising 
ground  in  the  desert  make  it  hard  for  any 
who  are  not  desert-bred  to  find  their  way; 


SCENES  IN  THE  DESERT. 


81 


and  these  little  groups  of  huts  resemble  in 
colour  the  surrounding  cliffs  so  exactly  that 
one  must  be  close  to  them  before  they  are 
visible.  At  length,  guided  by  a  column  of 
blue  smoke  from  one  of  the  huts,  we  came 
upon  a  little  colony  of  this  kind,  where  some 
half-settled  Bedouins  of  the  poorest  descrip- 
tion dwelt,  in  the  midst  of  dirt,  dust  and  rags. 
An  ill-fed  camel  was  eating  a  scanty  heap  of 
fodder  beside  one  of  the  huts,  and  goats,  fowls 
and  children  were  lying  in  the  hot  sand,  look- 
ing as  if  in  point  of  intelligence  there  was  no 
great  difference  between  them. 

Two  or  three  women,  clad  in  rags  which 
had  once  been  blue  but  now  scarcely  re- 
tained any  colour,  came  out  to  stare  at  the 
strangers.  Their  faces  were  tanned  to  a  hue 
almost  as  dark  as  a  Nubian's,  and  their  fea- 
tures prematurely  worn  by  a  hard  life,  but 
they  looked  very  good-humoured ;  and  when  I 
asked  for  a  little  water,  one  went  immediately 
to  a  vessel  half  imbedded  in  the  sand  and 
carefully  covered  up,  and  brought  me  some  in 


82 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


a  coarse  earthen  jar,  which  she  afterwards 
offered  to  the  servant,  drawing  the  end  of  her 
tattered  veil  over  her  mouth  as  she  did  so; 
to  supply  the  want  of  a  face-veil.  Bedouin 
women,  in  general,  wear  a  short  piece  of  pink 
or  lilac  crape,  or  else  one  of  a  cream  colour, 
being  the  natural  hue  of  the  undyed  rough 
silk  of  which  it  is  made.  This  is  often  hung 
round  with  heavy  silver  coins ;  and  the  effect 
is  then  as  ugly  as  we  should  find  it  uncomfort- 
able; but  use  is  every  thing,  and  the  Arab 
maiden  would  doubtless  pity  us  for  wearing  a 
bonnet. 

An  old  Syrian  colporteur,  who  was  with  us 
on  this  occasion,  endeavoured,  at  my  sugges- 
tion, to  talk  a  little  to  the  people;  but,  his 
private  opinion  being  that  Bedouins  were  quite 
hopeless  subjects,  it  was  difficult,  if  not  impos- 
sible, for  him  to  speak  in  the  way  likely  to 
attract  them.  When  they  heard  that  there 
was  a  school  for  poor  Moslim  girls  commenced 
in  Cairo,  they  all  laughed  heartily;  and  I 
really  believe  the  idea  of  teaching  women  to 


SCENES  IN  THE  DESERT. 


83 


read  was  quite  as  amusing  and  absurd  to  them 
as  it  would  be  to  English  villagers  if  some  one 
gravely  proposed  to  instruct  their  cats  in  the 
alphabet ! 

The  old  man  wanted  the  tact  necessary  in 
dealing  with  these  people,  and,  being  rudely 
interrupted,  he  shut  his  book  with  such  a  de- 
spairing look  that  I  feared  they  would  all 
think  it  a  bad  cause,  unless  I  tried  to  come  to 
the  rescue,  even  with  broken  Arabic. 

""Well,  is  not  that  good  that  he  has  read  to 
you  ?"  I  asked  one  of  the  men,  a  ragged,  lazy- 
looking  young  fellow,  who  stood  near  me. 

"Yes,"  he  answered,  indifferently;  "but  we 
are  Arabs,  and  do  not  understand  all  that." 

"  You  do  not  think ;  and  that  is  why  you  do 
not  understand  any  thing." 

"  Exactly  so:  I  do  not  think,"  said  he,  with 
an  air  of  great  complacency. 

"  But  you  are  not  a  camel  or  an  ass :  you 
have  a  soul  within  you." 

"  Oh,  certainly  !    A  soul, — yes." 

"Well,  then,  you  ought  to  think." 


84 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


"Yes,  yes!  that  is  true!"  (nodding  his  head 
with  somewhat  more  interest.) 

I  then  endeavoured  to  show  him  that  we 
had  need  to  think  about  our  souls  in  life,  be- 
cause death  is  not  far  from  any,  and  we  know 
not  how  near  it  may  be.  He  looked  uneasy 
at  this,  and  said, — 

"True:  all  must  die;  but  God  is  good." 
This  was  said  much  in  the  way  one  has  heard 
many  far  less  ignorant  persons  say  it. 


VISITS  TO  EASTERN  WOMEN. 


85 


CHAPTER  IX. 

VISITS  TO  EASTERN  WOMEN  WHO  DO  NOT 
LIVE  IN  HAREEMS. 

VISIT  to  an  Eastern  hareem  has  often 
been  described, — that  curious  scene, 
bringing  to  mind  the  tales  of  the  "Arabian 
Nights," — gayly-clad  slaves,  with  jewelled 
pipes,  fair  Circassians  reclining  on  splendid  di- 
vans, graceful  salaams,  and  fine  compliments 
translated  by  a  female  interpreter  for  the 
European  ladies :  all  this  has  been  graphically 
told  by  many  who  have  enjoyed  the  novelty  of 
a  peep  at  the  "caged  birds." 

But  the  humbler  classes  in  every  place  con- 
stitute the  great  majority;  and  it  is  among 
them  that  we  can  learn  something  of  the  ways 
and  interests  of  the  feminine  population  which 

8 


86 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


is  scarcely  possible  in  the  artificial  existence 
of  the  wealthy  minority.  The  lower  class  of 
women  in  Egypt  do  not  .live  in  hareems,  nor 
go  out  attended  by  a  troop  of  black  slaves, 
and,  except  in  the  custom  of  concealing  the 
face,  which  is  only  dispensed  with  in  some 
of  the  very  poorest  in  the  city,  though  little 
attended  to  in  the  country,  they  enjoy  a  good 
deal  of  freedom ;  and  if  their  life  be  hard  in 
many  cases,  it  is  more  interesting,  at  least, 
than  the  gilded  imprisonment  of  a  higher 
class. 

Every  one  who  attends  to  a  school  knows 
how  important  it  is  occasionally  to  visit  the 
mothers  of  the  scholars;  and  this  is  more 
particularly  the  case  in  a  country  where  edu- 
cation is  at  so  low  an  ebb  that  much  persua- 
sion is  necessary  to  induce  the  women  to  send 
their  children  at  all. 

But  the  visiting  in  a  school-district  in  Cairo 
could  not  be*  conducted  as  such  matters  are  in 
cities  at  home :  the  distinction  of  ranks  is  very 
slight ;  and  though  an  humble  visitor  will  sit 


VISITS  TO  EASTERN  WOMEN. 


87 


respectfully  on  the  mat,  instead  of  expecting 
a  place  on  the  divan,  yet  if  the  lady  visits 
her  in  turn  she  must  come  almost  on  terms 
of  equality;  and  the  graceful  courtesy  of 
Egyptian  manners  in  general  renders  this 
easy,  provided  the  visitor  is  not  too  nice  to 
sit  upon  dirty  cushions  or  mats,  and  does  not 
manifest  any  disgust  at  the  bedaubed  face  of 
the  little  one  who  is  dragged  up  to  kiss  her 
hand. 

Some  of  the  scholars  of  Bab-el-Bahar  were 
the  daughters  of  very  poor  artisans,  a  few  of  a 
still  lower  grade,  while  some  came  from  fami- 
lies really  well  off,  and,  though  they  were  not 
above  sending  their  girls  sometimes  in  as 
ragged  garments  as  the  poorest,  the  mothers 
would  sport  such  a  quantity  of  gold  coins  and 
silver  and  coral  bracelets  as  would  have  pur- 
chased several  suits  of  clothing. 

Three  sisters,  who  were  among  our  earliest 
pupils,  belonged  to  a  Coptic  family  of  this  de- 
scription. The  mother  had  a  good  business, 
apparently,  as  an  embroidcress  of  women's 


88 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


jackets.  We  called  on  her  one  day,  after  some 
trouble  in  finding  the  right  house,  for  she 
lived  in  one  of  the  narrow,  dark  and  densely- 
peopled  streets  of  the  Coptic  quarter,  quite 
out  of  our  district,  though  at  no  great  dis- 
tance. It  felt  close  and  suffocating,  for  sun 
and  air  can  hardly  penetrate  this  gloomy 
region;  and  one  could  not  wonder  at  the 
sickly  looks  of  the  women,  many  of  whom 
never  leave  their  native  quarter  from  week  to 
week.  The  eldest  of  our  scholars,  Hynehna, 
a  lovely  girl  about  thirteen,  espied  us  from  the 
door  of  a  neighbour's  house,  and  ran  up  to 
greet  us,  her  face  beaming  with  smiles.  She 
eagerly  brought  us  to  her  mother's  residence, 
which  was  close  by,  and  explained  that  it  was 
bread-making  day,  and  she  had  been  kept  at 
home  to  assist. 

We  were  led  through  a  dark,  damp  passage, 
up  a  narrow  and  dirty  stone  staircase,  till  we 
emerged  on  a  terrace,  lighter  and  cleaner  than 
I  should  have  supposed  possible  in  such  a 
place.    On  this  terrace  the  good  woman's 


VISITS  TO  EASTERN  WOMEN. 


89 


room  opened :  she  seemed  only  to  have  one,  but 
it  was  larger  than  any  three  rooms  in  an  Eng- 
lish cottage,  and  very  clean.  She  apparently 
aimed  at  European  innovations,  as  several  of 
the  Copts  do,  having  rush-bottomed  chairs 
instead  of  a  divan. 

We  sat  down  after  the  usual  salutations,  and 
the  hostess  began  talking,  first  to  us  and  then 
to  the  matron,  so  rapidly  and  in  so  shrill 
a  tone  that  very  little  was  intelligible  to 
me.  She  had  the  remains  of  great  beauty, 
the  velvety  blackness  of  her  eyes  and  the 
whiteness  of  her  teeth  being  unimpaired; 
but  her  face  was  worn  and  sallow,  and  the 
expression  any  thing  but  agreeable :  it  had  a 
sharp,  hard  look,  very  unlike  the  mild  sweet- 
ness of  her  gentle  daughter.  The  youngest 
of  the  family,  a  boy  of  three  years  old,  who, 
on  account  of  his  youth,  was  admitted  with  his 
sisters  to  school,  was  quite  pleased  to  see  the 
familiar  teachers'  faces,  and  rubbed  our  hands 
against  his  rough  little  head,  quite  to  his  own 
satisfaction,  while  we  submitted  with  diplo- 

8* 


90 


CHILD- LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


matic  coolness.  Cups  of  sugar  and  water  (the 
humblest  form  of  sherbet)  were  brought  to  us 
by  Hynehna;  and  just  as  she  came  in  with 
them,  another  visitor  appeared,  a  stout  Coptic 
dame,  in  flame-coloured  trousers  and  English 
jack-boots,  handsome  native  bracelets,  and 
coarse  English  gloves,  which  looked  so  droll 
that  it  was  difficult  to  preserve  becoming 
gravity,  while  she  pointed  to  us,  and  said,  in 
a  loud  voice,  "Who  are  those?" 

This  was  no  breach  of  manners  in  her  coun- 
try, however;  and,  after  all,  it  is  more  honest, 
perhaps,  than  the  too  common  European  plan 
of  waiting  till  the  stranger's  back  is  turned, 
and  then  pouring  out  a  volley  of  criticism. 

Though  a  narrow-minded  woman,  and  a 
very  bigoted  one,  it  was  something  gained  to 
be  on  friendly  terms  with  Hynehna's  mother, 
and  the  evident  regard  of  the  children  im- 
pressed her  favourably.  But  the  Moslim 
mothers  interested  me  more,  on  the  whole. 

One  whom  I  frequently  visited  was  a  Turk- 
ish woman,  by  birth  a  Circassian,  but  reared 


VISITS  TO  EASTERN  WOMEN. 


Oi 


in  Constantinople,  married  to  an  Egyptian  in 
the  service  of  the  Pasha.  She  herself  em- 
broidered for  the  royal  hareems,  and  made 
dresses  also :  in  fact,  she  was  a  highly  respect- 
able milliner. 

The  first  time  I  went  up  the  narrow  lane 
where  she  lived,  occupied  chiefly  by  Moslims 
of  the  lower  classes,  I  was  only  accompanied 
by  one  of  the  matron's  younger  girls,  and  a 
number  of  ragged  children  hooted  us,  and 
called  names,  and  some  even  threw  dust,  but 
no  stones,  nor  was  any  grown  person  rude; 
and  after  one  or  two  visits  they  became  ac- 
customed to  the  sight  of  a  stranger ;  the 
women  even  took  to  salaaming  civilly,  after 
they  had  heard  that  I  visited  a  sick  girl  in  the 
neighbourhood;  for,  bigoted  and  ignorant  as 
they  are,  no  people  sooner  see  or  appreciate 
love  and  kindness. 

The  only  entrance  to  "  Sitt  Haanem's"  abode 
was  through  a  dark,  ill-kept  stable,  where  her 
husband's  donkey  stood.  After  stumbling  along 
the  dirty,  broken  stone  steps  which  led  out  of 


92 


CHILD-LIFE  IK  EGYPT. 


this,  we  came  to  a  really  airy,  nice  terrace,  on 
which  three  rooms  opened,  which  with  a  little 
care  might  have  been  made  pleasant  apart- 
ments. 

An  old,  richly-carved  wooden  lattice  com- 
manded a  fine  view  of  minarets  and  palms, 
with  the  beautiful  Mokattam  cliffs  in  the  dis- 
tance; a  divan  occupied  this  corner,  covered 
with  white  cotton  and  with  a  pretty  carpet ; 
but  the  walls  were  rough  brick,  not  even 
plastered,  and  full  of  cracks  in  which  scor- 
pions might  hide.  A  string  of  beads  for 
prayer,  a  copy  of  the  Koran,  and  a  native 
mirror  in  a  gaudy  frame,  were  the  only 
adornments  of  the  room,  and,  indeed,  its  only 
furniture,  except  a  very  old  cupboard  of  some 
sort,  and  the  huge  water-vessel  near  the 
door. 

The  mistress  sat  on  the  floor  cross-legged, 
with  some  fine  muslins  for  the  royal  hareem 
in  her  hand,  and  at  the  same  time  superin- 
tending the  work  of  a  slave-girl,  in  coarse 
blue  cotton  garments,  who  assisted  her  in  the 


VISITS  TO  EASTERN  WOMEN.  93 

simpler  part  of  her  employment.  She  was 
herself  in  Turkish  style,  i.e.  her  hair  cut 
almost  as  short  as  a  boy's  in  front,  and  parted 
on  one  side,  a  silk  fillet  going  round  the  head, 
a  short  jacket  and  full  print  trousers  com- 
pleting an  attire  far  less  graceful  than  that 
worn  by  native  Egyptians  of  her  rank  in  life. 
Sitt  Haanem  was  also  less  graceful  in  figure 
and  movements  than  the  natives,  having  all 
the  Turkish  abruptness  of  motion;  but  her 
face,  which  was  rather  pretty,  had  a  very 
honest  and  pleasant  expression.  She  offered 
me  a  paper  cigar,  and,  on  my  saying  it  did 
not  agree  with  me  to  smoke,  laughed,  and  put 
it  in  her  own  mouth :  she  was  an  inveterate 
smoker. 

On  subsequent  visits  we  had  a  good  deal  of 
conversation,  and  by  degrees  her  bigotry 
softened.  At  first  she  used  to  condemn  all 
Christians  without  exception ;  but  latterly  she 
would  say, u  There  are  good  Moslims  and  good 
Christians,  as  well  as  bad."  She  was  disap- 
pointed that  her  little  daughter's  progress  in 


94 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


reading  was  not  more  rapid;  but  the  child's 
defective  sight  made  it  impossible  she  should 
ever  learn  to  read :  it  seemed  inevitable  that 
she  must  one  day  be  quite  blind.  We  did  all 
we  could  by  teaching  her  texts  and  hymns; 
but,  though  an  affectionate  little  creature,  she 
was  not  bright.  The  mother  was  very  fond  of 
her,  but  not  partial,  as  some  parents  are,  to 
the  degree  of  overrating  her  looks,  and  used 
to  remark,  coolly  enough,  sometimes,  "Hada- 
weeyeh  is  not  at  all  a  pretty  child ;  she  is  not 
like  me!" 

One  day  we  found  the  father  at  home,  and 
made  the  child  repeat  her  hymn  for  him  to 
hear.  He  seemed  pleased;  and  the  mother 
echoed  the  words,  and  said,  "  I  know  all  that 
now :  she  is  singing  it  all  day." 

One  day,  on  another  visit,  we  were  speak- 
ing on  the  subject  of  prayer,  and  she  said  she 
would  show  us  how  Moslim  women  prayed. 
Many  do  not  pray  at  all,  for  it  is  not  obli- 
gatory with  the  inferior  sex,  and  is  rather 
thought  a  work  of  supererogation;  but  if  they 


VISITS  TO  EASTERN  WOMEN.  95 

wish  to  be  "holy  women,"  this  is  the  form 
prescribed,  as  she  assured  us. 

First  she  tied  a  muslin  kerchief  over  her 
head,  concealing  all  the  hair,  then  spread  a 
shawl  on  the  floor,  by  way  of  a  praying-carpet, 
and  stood  on  it,  making  a  variety  of  genu- 
flexions and  gestures,  rather  like  gymnastic 
exercises :  the  oddest  of  them  all  consisted 
in  turning  the  head  from  side  to  side,  as  if 
about  to  whisper  to  some  one  behind  her; 
but  not  a  word  was  spoken. 

This  silence  is  a  needful  part  of  the  cere- 
mony, she  declared.  I  do  not  pretend  to  say 
Moslim  women  never  repeat  forms  of  prayer. 
I  merely  tell  what  this  person,  herself  a  Turk- 
ish Moslim,  told  me :  it  may  be  that  this 
ludicrous  pantomime  was  merely  the  most 
approved  style  of  prayer,  and  not  the  only 
one.  Sitt  Haanem  herself  laughed  at  its  ab- 
surdity ;  and  when  I  said,  "  That  is  not  prayer : 
it  is  good  for  nothing,"  she  repeated,  emphatic- 
ally, "Yes,  good  for  nothing." 

We  tried  to  show  her  that  the  vain  repeti- 


9G 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


tions  of  the  men  were,  however,  not  better  in 
reality  than  silent  antics  like  this,  and  to 
make  her  see  that  prayer  must  consist  in 
asking  for  something  and  wishing  for  what 
we  ask ;  but  with  an  imperfect  command  of 
language  it  is  difficult  to  keep  up  an  argu- 
ment. 

Two  days  before  our  departure  she  visited 
us,  and,  finding  the  scholars  at  needle-work, 
came  up-stairs  to  the  sitting-room,  where  she 
found  me  resting  after  a  regular  levee  of 
humble  visitors,  mothers  and  aunts  of  the  chil- 
dren, who  wished  to  pay  farewell  visits.  No 
one  expressed  more  regret  than  Sitt  Haanem, 
though,  like  most  Eastern  women,  she  showed 
her  childish  disposition  by  the  versatility  with 
which  she  turned  from  serious  subjects  or 
matters  of  real  feeling  to  the  veriest  trifle. 
With  the  bluntness  customary  among  these 
half-civilized  people,  she  said,  in  presence  of 
the  new  teacher,  "I  do  not  know  her.  I 
know  you.  My  child  loves  you.  Why  do 
you  go  away  T*    Then,  casting  her  eye  on  the 


VISITS  TO  EASTERN  WOMEN. 


97 


table,  she  spied  an  English  Bible.  "  What  ia 
that  book? — is  it  an  angel?"*  Moslims  do  not 
seem,  in  general,  to  know  that  we  have  any 
sacred  writings  except  the  Gospels.  I  ex- 
plained that  we  had  both  the  gospel  and  a 
great  deal  more  in  this  book,  and  told  her 
how  in  the  first  part  we  read  of  Moses  and 
David  and  the  other  prophets,  and,  in  the 
last  part,  of  Jesus  Christ. 

"  After  David  was  long  dead,  the  Christ  [el 
Messiah],  whom  he  had  written  of,  came  into 
the  world,  and  died  for  our  sins." 

"  I  know  he  was  a  prophet;  but  there  is  only 
one  God,"  said  she. 

"  God  is  one  Spirit.  We  who  believe  God's 
word  do  not  worship  any  but  God.  We  are 
not  servants  of  idols." 

"I  believe  you  love  God,"  she  said;  "for 
you  love  the  children,"  (pointing  to  the  door, 
to  indicate  the  scholars  below.) 

We  had  a  good  deal  of  conversation,  con- 


G 


*  i.e.  a  Gospel. 
9 


98 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


sidering  the  imperfect  language,  and  she  left 
with  many  expressions  of  good  will  and  regret. 
This  woman  has  lost  her  husband  since  our 
departure,  and  probably  changed  her  residence : 
if  possible,  I  shall  trace  her,  however ;  and,  at 
all  events,  it  is  a  comfort  to  know  that  she 
has  heard  something  of  the  truth,  for  our 
friend  Mrs.  E   called  on  her  and  con- 
versed much  with  her  on  one  or  two  occasions 
subsequent  to  the  visits  I  have  described. 


THE  BLIND  AND  THE  SICK. 


99 


CHAPTER  X. 

THE  BLIND  AND  THE  SICK. 

(^f^.HE  great  scourge  of  Egypt  is  the  oph- 
S  thalmia,  concerning  the  cause  of  which 
so  many  different  opinions  prevail,  but  which 
all  residents  know  to  be  most  severe  after  the 
inundations  of  the  Nile,  and  at  all  times  in 
the  closer  and  more  unhealthy  quarters  of  the 
city.  The  people  of  the  country  appear  to 
suffer  less  with  it  than  those  in  the  town;  but 
of  all  places  the  most  afflicted  seems  the 
Jewish  quarter  in  Cairo,  where  every  second 
person  you  meet  is  either  suffering  under 
some  stage  of  the  complaint,  or  else  is  blind, 
or  one-eyed,  or  squinting.  Some  say  the  un- 
wholesome diet  of  the  Caireen  Jews  makes 
them  more  liable  than  others  to  this  disease ; 
but  the  extreme  narrowness  of  their  streets, 


100 


CH-LD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


and  the  way  in  which  they  are  crowded  to- 
gether, added  to  their  uncleanly  habits,  are 
quite  sufficient  to  account  for  their  having  a 
larger  share  than  even  the  natives  of  the  land 
of  the  "  diseases  of  Egypt." 

Though  the  climate  of  Egypt  is  so  trying  to 
the  children  of  Europeans,  there  seems  no 
reason  to  suppose  it  is  unhealthy  for  native 
children.  If  they  are  exposed  to  ophthalmia, 
they  are,  on  the  other  hand,  exempt  from 
many  of  the  maladies  common  to  the  young 
in  colder  regions.  The  great  mortality  which 
prevails  among  the  native  infants  seems,  as 
far  as  I  could  learn,  and  also  judging  from 
observation,  which,  living  surrounded  by  the 
poor,  I  was  enabled  to  make,  to  be  caused  by 
bad  management,  neglect,  dirt  and  foolish 
customs  and  superstitions.  To  any  one  who 
watches  their  way  of  bringing  up  children, 
the  wonder  is  not  that  many  die,  but  that  any 
survive.  The  girls  marry  so  early  that  they 
are  totally  unfit  for  the  responsibility  of  a 
family,  and,  as  they  grow  old,  contradict  the 


THE  BLIND  AND  THE  SICK.  lUl 


prcrerb  that  experience  makes  fools  wise;  for 
the  old  women  are  as  ignorant  as  the  young, 
and  more  obstinate.  The  precocity  of  Easterns 
is,  perhaps,  somewhat  overrated  :  certainly  an 
Egyptian  girl  of  twelve  or  fourteen,  though 
forward  enough  in  making  bargains,  and  up 
to  all  the  gossip  of  her  quarter,  no  doubt,  is 
more  unfit  to  take  care  of  little  children  than 
an  ordinary  specimen  of  an  English  village  girl 
at  eight  years  old.  There  are,  as  we  know, 
ragged  homes  in  England,  and  yet  more  in 
Ireland,  where  order  and  cleanliness  and  care 
are  just  as  much  wanting  as  in  an  Egyptian 
one ;  but  an  industrious,  respectable  artisan's 
or  cottager's  wife  has  some  notion  of  rearing 
her  children  decently  and  keeping  her  house 
tidy;  whereas  in  a  country  where  there  is  no 
female  education  and  no  moral  standard  the 
difference  is  very  trifling  between  the  children 
of  a  beggar  and  those  of  an  honest  workman, 
except  that  the  latter  are  better  fed. 

The  fear  of  the  evil  eye,  as  is  well  known, 
induces  even  women  of  the  higher  classes  fre- 

9* 


102 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


quently  to  keep  their  children  ill  dressed  snd 
unwashed ;  and  sometimes  they  go  so  far  as  to 
daub  the  forehead  of  a  pretty  or  highly -valued 
child  with  soot,  in  the  idea  that  this  diverts 
the  power  of  the  envious  glance  which  they 
dread !  The  bad  management  and  unsuitable 
diet  appears  to  be  equally  great  among  rich 
and  poor,  if  I  was  correctly  informed;  but,  as 
my  personal  observations  extended  only  to  the 
latter,  I  will  merely  describe  their  system,  if 
so  it  may  be  called. 

The  first  thing  is  to  bind  the  head  of  a 
young  infant  tightly  round  with  a  dark- 
coloured  handkerchief.  Exceedingly  unbecom- 
ing to  the  little  face  is  this  dismal  head-dress. 
Nor  is  the  dark-blue  cotton  shirt,  begrimed 
with  dust,  much  less  so.  A  little  jacket  of 
coloured  print  is  added  in  winter,  by  those 
who  can  afford  it ;  but,  with  the  very  poor,  all 
garments  are  not  unfrequently  dispensed  with 
for  young  children,  except  a  covering  for  the 
head.  When  it  is  cold  weather,  a  mother 
whose  means  render  it  possible  puts  a  little 


THE  BLIND  AND  THE  SICK. 


103 


p  minted  hood  of  coarse  cloth  on  her  child's 
head,  which  has  a  very  comical  effect.  When 
not  rolling  in  the  dust,  the  child  is  always  on 
its  mother's  shoulder,  clinging  to  her  head 
with  its  tiny  hands ;  and  it  is  surprising  how, 
at  a  few  months  old,  they  learn  to  hold  on  as 
dexterously  as  monkeys ;  but  often  the  little 
head  is  seen  bobbing  feebly  from  side  to  side, 
while  swarms  of  flies  are  crawling  over  its 
unwashed  face  and  into  its  eyes,  which  are 
usually  more  or  less  affected  with  the  ophthal- 
mia during  teething.  The  mother  cannot  see 
to  drive  the  flies  away,  from  the  child's  posi- 
tion ;  nor,  indeed,  would  she  take  the  trouble 
to  brush  them  away  if  she  could.  This  way 
of  carrying  a  child  is  all  very  well  after  a  cer- 
tain age,  but  must  be  injurious  while  the  back 
is  still  weak.  Even  before  the  child  has  cut 
its  teeth,  the  mother  crams  its  mouth  with  a 
portion  of  any  thing  she  is  herself  eating, 
whether  it  be  a  raw  onion,  or  a  ball  of  fried 
meat,  or  salted  curd,  or  any  other  street-de- 
licacy ;  and,  as  it  gets  older,  she  gives  it  any 


104 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


thing  it  cries  for,  if  it  be  in  her  power  to 
get  it.  The  shrunk  limbs  and  unnaturally 
large  bodies  of  the  young  children  show  how 
ill  they  thrive  on  this  style  of  treatment.  If, 
however,  the  little  one  survives  all  this,  and 
does  not  die  in  convulsions,  as  hundreds  do, 
or  become  blind  from  neglected  ophthalmia,  it 
may,  after  three  years  old,  become  a  healthy 
child ;  but  I  do  not  suppose  any  mother  rears 
more  than  one  in  three.  In  our  Country,  with 
the  best  care  she  can  take  of  her  children,  a 
poor  mother  may  be  compelled  to  see  a  delicate 
child  pine  away  for  want  of  sufficient  firing 
and  warm  clothes ;  but  this  is  not  the  case  in 
Egypt :  yet  the  infant  mortality  is  greater  than 
with  us. 

One  advantage  we  have,  however,  in  dealing 
with  ragged  life  in  Egypt,  and  it  is  a  great 
compensation,  I  must  own,  for  the  filthy  habits 
of  the  people,  the  ignorance,  the  superstition 
and  the  degradation :  this  compensation  is,  we 
have  no  drunkenness  to  contend  with, — no 
fear  of  a  drunken  husband  stumbling  in  while 


THE  BLIND  AND  THE  SICK. 


105 


speaking  to  a  poor  mother ;  no  fear  of  finding 
the  mother  herself  gone  to  the  gin-shop !  It 
is  the  one  blessing  amid  many  and  great  evils. 

I  may  give  an  instance  to  show  the  native 
ideas  respecting  the  treatment  of  the  sick,  and 
the  way  in  which  these  might,  by  degrees,  be 
first  modified  and  then  changed :  it  is  the  case 
of  a  scholar  of  mine,  one  of  the  most  steady 
and  well-disposed  among  the  older  girls.  She 
was  the  only  survivor  of  many  brothers  and 
sisters,  and  lived  in  a  lane  near  the  school, — ■ 
her  parents,  who  were  poor,  though  respect- 
able, being  the  only  Copts  in  that  lane.  One 
day  this  girl  complained  of  headache  and 
burning  heat  in  her  forehead,  which  was  alle- 
viated by  the  application  of  a  clean,  cold,  wet 
bandage,  which  I  put  on  for  her  in  place  of 
the  head-gear  which  she  wore,  and  which 
must  have  aggravated  the  pain,  though  put 
on  expressly  because  she  had  a  headache ;  it 
consisted  of  a  man's  thick  red  woollen  cap, 
which  must  have  belor.  ged  to  her  grandfather, 
judging  from  its  aged  appearance;  over  this 


106  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


two  cotton  handkerchiefs,  and  over  them  a 
coarse  blue  cotton  veil,  each  article  dirtier 
than  the  last,  and  within  all  the  matted,  un- 
combed hair. 

The  girl  was  better  for  the  exchange  to  the 
wet  bandage,  but  was  made  to  resume  them 
all  on  her  return  home,  and  brought  word 
next  day  that  her  mother  begged  she  might 
on  no  account  put  off  the  wraps,  lest  she 
should  suffer  from  cold.  Of  course  I  did  not 
again  interfere,  as  prejudices  of  old  standing 
must  at  first  be  cautiously  dealt  with.  I  think 
yet  another  handkerchief  had  been  added,  her 
head  now  seeming  of  the  size  of  a  great  pump- 
kin !  She  could  not  attend  to  her  lessons,  and 
had  to  be  sent  home  early,  and  the  following 
day  I  heard  that  she  was  very  ill,  that  the 
mother  was  in  despair,  and  expected  she  would 
die.  However,  she  would  not  call  in  a  doctor, 
as  our  matron  advised,  but  said,  "  If  it  were 
God's  will  her  child  should  die,  she  would  die ; 
and  if  it  were  his  will  she  should  live,  she 
would  live."    This  fatalism,  which  the  poor 


THE  BLIND  AND  THE  SICK.  107 


wo  ian  mistook  for  faith,  is  said  to  be  nearly 
as  common  among  Copts  as  among  their  Mos- 
lim  neighbours,  from  whom  they  probably 
have  learned  it.  I  went  to  see  the  invalid, 
and  found  her  crouched  up  on  the  floor,  with 
a  great  cotton  veil  of  her  mother's  rolled  over 
all  her  former  attire,  so  that  she  looked  a 
mere  heap  of  dark-blue  rags,  except  for  the 
melancholy,  sallow  visage  which  peeped  out 
from  among  them.  An  old  Coptic  priest  was 
burning  incense  and  muttering  prayers  for  her 
benefit,  in  one  corner  of  the  room,  while  in 
another  sat  the  mother  and  aunt  of  the  girl, 
looking  the  pictures  of  helpless  grief,  and  with 
tears  running  down  their  care-worn  faces. 
Both  rose,  however,  and  cordially  welcomed 
me,  and  the  mother  put  a  cushion  on  the 
ground  for  me  to  sit  on.  As  soon  as  the  priest 
had  finished  his  business,  I  asked  a  few  ques- 
tions of  the  child,  and  felt  pretty  sure  that 
6he  was  not  in  so  bad  a  way  as  the  mother 
imagined,  and  with  proper  care  might  soon  be 
well  again.    However,  to  get  rid  of  the  wrap- 


108  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


pings  was  out  of  the  question,  so  was  a  clean 
bed,  and  sundry  other  comforts  which  sickness 
seems  to  demand :  all  that  could  be  accom- 
plished was  a  promise  that  her  face  and  hands 
should  be  washed,  and  that  she  should  take 
some  medicine,  which  her  aunt  was  to  call  for 
that  evening.  This  was  something  gained ;  and 
next  day  I  prepared  some  nice  broth,  which 
proved  acceptable;  and,  when  I  came  again, 
poor  Ghemiana,  for  that  was  the  patient's 
name,  was  better  and  able  to  answer  ques- 
tions more  cheerfully.  It  was  touching  to 
hear  her  assuring  the  matron  that  she  had 
prayed  during  her  illness,  and  that  she  "did 
indeed  say  'Our  Father'  very  often."  It  was 
the  only  prayer  she  knew,  and  was  doubtless 
but  imperfectly  understood :  still,  she  had 
some  comprehension  of  the  meaning,  Um 
Usuf  having  often  tried  to  explain  the  clauses 
to  the  children,  after  making  them  repeat  the 
words;  and  it  certainly  was  an  attempt  to 
look  up  in  faith  to  God,  and  surely  was  ac- 
cepted, weak  as  the  attempt  might  be.  She 


THE  BLIND  AND  THE  SICK.  109 

was  a  most  patient,  good-tempered  girl,  whe- 
ther sick  or  well ;  and  when  she  recovered, 
which  she  soon  did,  her  plain  face,  with  its 
heavy  features  and  sallow  tint,  looked  quite 
bright  and  pleasant,  lit  up  with  grateful 
smiles,  as  she  came  to  return  thanks  and 
bring  me  an  offering  of  Easter-cakes,  made 
by  her  mother,  as  a  token  of  her  good  feel- 
ings.   This  was  just  at  Easter-time. 

I  went  to  visit  the  mother,  among  many 
others,  just  before  leaving  Cairo,  and  was  re- 
ceived with  affectionate  respect,  though  shown 
in  rather  a  singular  way  according  to  Euro- 
pean notions.  The  good  woman  had  been 
washing,  and  was  reposing  a  little  after  her 
fatigues,  it  being  now  between  eight  and  nine 
in  the  morning,  while  her  daughter  and  sister 
took  her  place  at  the  tub  in  a  kind  of  den 
which  seemed  common  to  the  neighbourhood. 
She  squatted  at  the  entrance,  enjoying  a  pipe 
and  the  luxury  of  a  cup  of  coffee,  which  I 
imagine  was  not  a  daily  one  with  her,  but 
taken  on  holidays  or  at  times  of  extra  labour, 

10 


110  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


Buch  as  "  washing-mornings."  On  leeing  me 
coming  up  the  lane,  accompanied  by  Menni, 
she  rose  and  cordially  saluted  me,  at  the  same 
moment  offering  me  the  little  cup  of  coffee 
she  was  in  the  act  of  drinking.  An  Egyptian 
always  shows  politeness  by  offering  a  share  of 
any  thing  he  may  be  eating  or  drinking  to  a 
friend  or  superior  who  may  happen  to  come 
up  at  the  time.  I  just  tasted  her  coffee,  not 
to  affront  her,  and,  after  hastily  swallowing 
the  remainder,  she  insisted  on  accompanying 
us  up-stairs  to  her  room,  where  we  sat  for  a 
short  time.  I  exhorted  her  to  let  Ghemiana 
attend  school  regularly  after  our  departure, 
which  the  mother  promised,  though  bemoan- 
ing the  necessity  of  the  parting  very  much, 
and  frequently  repeating,  "  My  child  loves 
you  ;  so  do  we  all :  you  must  return  to  us!" 

I  did  not  observe  much  difference  between 
this  woman  and  others  of  her  class  in  life, 
and  Moslim  women  of  the  same  rank :  per- 
haps they  were  less  averse  to  education  than 
Moslims,  as  I  never  heard  them  say,  as  sorie 


THE  BLIND  AND  THE  SICK.  Ill 

others  did,  "We  do  not  want  our  girls  to 
learn."  But,  practically,  it  was  near"1/  the 
same ;  for  they  had  such  supreme  indifference 
about  it  that  they  did  not  care  to  send  the 
children  if  they  wished  to  stay  away.  Ghe- 
miana's  mother  was  not  more  sensible,  as  may 
be  supposed  from  what  I  have  related,  than 
any  of  her  neighbours ;  but,  like  most,  whether 
Moslim  or  Copt,  she  could  be  reached  through 
her  affections,  and  never  seemed  to  forget  the 
attention  shown  to  her  child  in  sickness. 

I  learned  afterwards,  with  no  small  regret, 
that  the  poor  girl  had  been  taken  from  school 
to  be  married,  before  she  could  read  fluently, 
and  when  a  short  time  longer  would  have 
enabled  her  to  master  her  difficult  language 
sufficiently  to  do  so.  She  cried,  and  begged 
to  be  left  a  little  longer;  but  the  parents, 
knowing  she  was  both  poor  and  plain,  would 
not  risk  the  loss  of  the  match,  and  poor  Ghe- 
miana  became  an  unwilling  bride. 


112  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


CHAPTER  XL 

THE  CITY  ARABS. 

S^^MONG  the  tribes  of  ragged,  vagrant 
I^ji  boys  who  swarm  in  the  streets  of  Cairo, 
none  are  more  conspicuous  than  the  well- 
known  donkey-boys;  for  they  are  quite  a  fea- 
ture of  the  city.  People  are  dependent  on 
donkeys  in  a  country  where  few  who  can 
avoid  it  walk,  and  where  driving  is  not  only 
very  expensive,  but  impracticable  in  a  great 
many  of  the  streets.  Every  traveller,  even 
the  Indian-bound  who  has  but  twenty-four 
hours  in  which  to  "  do  Cairo,"  knows  these 
boys;  and  we  hear  them  spoken  of  as  "  Un- 
mitigated rascals  !"  and  "The  pests  of  Cairo!" 
or  " Smart  lads!"  and  "  Bright  little  fellows  !" 
according  to  the  disposition  of  the  English 


Cfjiiu  lift  in  8ggoL 


Donkey  boys  waiting  for  a  job. 


p.  112. 


THE  CITY  ARABS. 


113 


traveller,  or  the  luck  he  has  happened  meet 
with  among  the  species. 

But  few  Europeans  have  time  or  interest  for 
them  beyond  a  passing  remark,  and  their  life 
seems  to  shut  them  out  from  the  chance  good 
influences  of  the  very  few  who  do  feel  inte- 
rested in  their  lot;  for,  if  a  kind  word  is 
spoken  by  a  philanthropic  stranger  who  knows 
a  little  Arabic,  or  if  the  boy  addressed  has 
picked  up  English  enough,  as  is  often  the  case, 
to  understand  what  is  said  to  him  in  that  lan- 
guage, the  next  traveller  perhaps  teaches  him 
to  swear,  and,  as  evil  finds  a  readier  entrance 
into  the  natural  heart  than  good,  the  con- 
sequence, of  course,  is  that  Egyptian  donkey- 
boys  can  often  say  many  bad  words  in  Eng- 
lish, and  rarely  any  good  ones.  I  remember 
a  lad  of  thirteen  or  fourteen,  who  was  one  day 
guiding  a  donkey  for  me,  not  long  after  our 
arrival  in  Cairo,  and  who  used  some  very 
profane  English  words.    I  reproved  him,  and 

a  respectable  Syrian  servant  who  was  with  us 
H  10* 


114 


CniLD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


spoke  to  him  also,  saying  that  such  words  dis- 
pleased God. 

11  That  Engeliz!"  replied  the  boy,  grinning 
as  he  said  it,  and  evidently  thinking  himself 
quite  a  promising  English  scholar. 

How  grievous  it  was  to  hear  this,  every 
Christian  can  imagine,  and  how  I  endeavoured, 
with  the  Syrian's  assistance,  to  explain  to  him 
that  no  Englishman  who  feared  God  used  such 
language.  The  boy  seemed  surprised,  not 
having  any  idea,  probably,  that  there  were 
any  Englishmen  who  cared  for  the  name  of 
God ;  but  the  impression  was  doubtless  soon 
effaced,  for  to  produce  any  permanent  effect 
on  such  boys,  long-continued  efforts  would  be 
as  necessary  as  with  our  vagrant  children  at 
home,  if  not  even  more  so. 

While  quite  young,  and  before  they  have 
learned  all  the  evil  ways  of  the  elder  ones, 
many  of  these  Egyptian  boys  are  nice,  bright 
children,  and  would,  I  am  certain,  be  glad  to 
learn  if  they  had  the  opportunity.  There  are 
native  schools,  indeed,  such  as  they  are,  where 


THE  CITY  ARABS. 


115 


the  Koran  is  the  only  book,  and  where  that 
and  the  formal  Mohammedan  prayers  are  im- 
pressed on  the  boys'  memories  by  constant  ap- 
plications of  a  heavy  stick;  but  the  class  I 
allude  to  seldom  go  to  these  schools,  their 
parents  being  too  poor  to  afford  the  expense, 
and  their  days  being  occupied  either  with 
following  donkeys  or  carrying  parcels  from 
the  bazaars  for  strangers,  or  else  in  begging, 
fighting,  and  scrambling  for  a  morsel  of  food, 
much  as  vagabond  boys  do  in  every  great  city, 
whether  Eastern  or  European. 

There  was  a  bright,  pleasant-looking  little 
boy,  named  Seid,  who  often  attended  us  on 
desert-rides,  being  rather  a  favourite  in  con- 
sequence of  his  docility  and  good  humour. 
Some  of  the  older  lads  are  troublesome  and 
impertinent  on  a  long  country  ride,  and  will 
run  away  and  leave  their  donkeys  for  a  long 
time  to  save  themselves  fatigue/making  the 
youngest  boy  present  take  all  the  care  of  the 
rest,  if  they  can  manage  it.  Seid  seemed  too 
young  to  have  learned  the  bad.  ways  of  the 


116 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


others  yet,  and  his  lively  chat,  whether  in 
Arabic  or  in  his  droll  broken  English,  was 
always  harmless  and  amusing :  he  used  to  be 
both  grateful  for  and  diverted  by  our  efforts 
to  relieve  him  from  the  burdens  laid  on  him 
by  the  older  boys,  according  to  the  invariable 
custom  of  trampling  on  the  weak,  which  is  so 
painful  a  mark  of  want  of  civilization.  Unless 
we  kept  a  very  sharp  look-out,  the  large  boys 
were  sure  to  circumvent  us,  and  we  would  see 
poor  little  Seid  staggering  under  the  weight 
of  all  the  bags  and  baskets  hung  on  his  slen- 
der shoulders  or  piled  on  his  head,  while  a 
strapping  fellow  of  sixteen  walked  merrily  by 
his  side,  munching  sugarcane  or  smoking 
paper  cigars. 

Another  boy,  about  the  same  age  as  Seid, 
brought  two  sisters  to  the  ragged  school  after 
hearing  it  spoken  of;  but,  unluckily,  they 
were  frightened  by  some  one,  and  would  not 
stay,  but  escaped  and  fled,  just  as  their  young 
brother  Lad  succeeded  in  coaxing  them  up  to 
the  door.    Probably  they  were  panic-struck 


THE  CITY  ARABS. 


117 


by  some  of  the  silly  fictions  spread  by  our  old 
enemies  the  seedsman  and  his  girls,  who  were 
ever  on  the  watch  to  deter  scholars  from 
coming,  by  reports  of  the  beatings  they  would 
receive. 

But  there  was  one  donkey-boy  who  was  more 
successful ;  this  was  little  Abdul  Leyl :  he  was 
a  fine,  interesting  boy,  of  perhaps  nine  or  ten 
years  old.  When  questioned  about  his  sisters, 
he  said  that  he  had  one  sister,  and  she  was  "a 
very  nice  sister!"  Their  father  was  a  servant, 
and  they  lodged  with  an  aunt  not  far  from  the 
school-house,  their  mother  being  dead.  The 
aunt  made  no  objection  to  the  boy's  bringing 
his  sister  to  school ;  and  accordingly  he  came 
one  morning,  bringing  a  little  girl  in  a  ragged 
loose  dress  of  red  cotton  and  a  white  veil,  and 
a  most  gentle  pair  of  large  black  eyes,  which 
were  her  only  beauty.  The  boy  introduced 
her  to  the  matron,  saying,  "This  is  Fatmeh!" 
There  are  hundreds  of  Moslim  girls  who  bear 
this  favourite  name ;  but  to  poor  Abdul  Leyl 
there  was  but  one  Fatmeh  in  the  world, — at 


118 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


that  time,  at  least, — and  very  proud  he  was 
of  having  been  the  one  to  bring  her  into 
the  way  of  receiving  education,  which  he  had 
sense  enough  to  think  a  valuable  thing.  Fat- 
meh  proved  a  sweet,  docile  child, — less  quick 
than  her  brother  appeared  to  be,  but  steady 
in  her  attendance  and  remarkably  amiable  in 
disposition.  Abdul  Leyl  often  called  at  the 
school,  slipping  up-stairs  and  just  peeping  in, 
and  then  retreating,  saying  he  came  "to  see 
Fatmeh."  Fain  would  he  have  been  admitted 
to  join  her  in  study  on  days  when  he  chanced 
not  to  be  wanted  with  his  donkey;  in  the  hot 
weather  much  fewer  are  in  use;  but  it  was 
not  possible  to  mix  boys  and  girls  in  the 
school,  for  many  reasons.  When  some  little 
rewards  were  to  be  given  to  the  best  girls, 
Fatmeh,  of  course,  told  her  brother  about  it; 
and,  happening  to  employ  him  the  previous 
day  to  that  on  which  the  pieces  of  cotton  were 
to  be  given,  he  took  the  opportunity  of  beg- 
ging me  to  give  something  pretty  to  his 
Bister,  for  was  not  she  good  ?    "  Had  not 


THE  CITY  ARABS. 


119 


the  'Sitt'  said  herself  that  Fatmeh  was 
good  ?" 

The  affection  of  this  boy  was  so  pleasing, 
and  gave  so  favourable  an  idea  of  his  dispo- 
sition, that  we  felt  much  interested  for  him, 
and,  before  leaving,  I  told  him  that  the  boys 
should  not  be  forgotten. 

Now  that  a  school  is  already  preparing*  for 
the  Moslim  boys  of  Cairo,  we  may  hope  his 
turn  is  really  coming,  if  he  have  not  been 
already  drawn  away  by  the  whirlpool  of  bad 
example  and  have  lost  his  desire  for  instruc- 
tion. 

The  name  of  Abdul  Leyl  (Servant  of  the 
Night)  is  not  a  common  one  in  Egypt,  as  far 
as  I  know ;  and  probably  some  family  sorrow 
caused  it  to  be  given  in  this  instance.  The 
singularity  of  the  appellation  attracted  our 
notice;  and  often  we  observed,  if  Abdul  Leyl 
were  to  be  educated  and  brought  to  the  know- 

*  Under  the  Malta  College  Committee,  who  selected 
Cairo  as  the  place  where  the  first  of  their  Oriental  schools 
hhould  be  established. 


120  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 

ledge  of  the  true  light,  his  name  might  be 
changed  to  "  Servant  of  the  Day;"  but,  as  yet, 
he  and  his  comrades  are  walking  in  darkness 
and  know  not  the  light. 

All  who  have  had  any  experience  among 
Easterns  know  the  importance  of  getting 
them  as  young  as  possible  under  instruction: 
even  at  home,  we  all  know  the  advantage 
which  a  child  enjoys  who  has  had  some  moral 
discipline  and  mental  culture  under  ten  years 
old.  But  it  is  still  more  important  in  the 
East,  because  of  the  greater  precocity  of  the 
children.  I  did  not  observe  much  difference 
while  they  were  quite  young,  but  between 
those  under  ten  and  over  twelve — judging  from 
looks,  for  none  ever  knew  their  age — there 
appeared  a  more  marked  difference  than  we 
see  in  our  home-schools.  It  seemed  as  if  be- 
tween these  ages  they  became  suddenly  pre- 
cocious, and  the  pretty,  graceful,  pleasant  boy 
was  changed  into  a  disagreeable,  rude,  vulgar 
lad,  acting  as  if  he  thought  himself  quite  a 
man  in  every  respect. 


THE  CITY  ARABS. 


121 


The  life  of  a  city  Arab  proper  is  one  of  less 
actual  hardship  than  that  of  his  namesake  in 
London  :  the  food  of  the  lowest  classes  of 
Egypt  is  very  much  cheaper  than  food  in  Eng- 
land, and,  if  coarse,  is  not  adulterated.  Na- 
tive bread  and  onions  are  to  be  had  at  a  low 
rate  all  the  year  round ;  and  sugarcane  and 
cucumbers,  in  their  season,  are  no  expensive 
luxury.  I  have,  indeed,  seen  boys  in  the  street 
who  appeared  ill  fed  and  wretched,  but  very 
few  compared  with  those  I  had  been  used  to 
see  in  Ireland. 

Their  clothing  is  certainly  apt  to  be  of  the 

scantiest  possible  kind ;  but  a  warm  climate 

makes  this  a  trifling  evil  during  a  great  part 

of  the  year.   One  sees  them  shivering  and  even 

suffering  from  bad  colds  during  the  brief 

winter  season,  the  contrast  to  the  extreme  heat 

of  the  summer  making  it  seem  cold  to  them, 

though  most  likely  we  should  consider  it  very 

temperate  weather.    Still,  there  is  no  question 

that,  spite  of  rags,  dirt  and  ophthalmia,  and 

frequent  beatings  from  their  masters  or  older 
n 


122 


CHILD-L1?E  IN  EGYPT. 


comrades,  the  city  Arab  of  Cairo  has,  physically, 
a  less  miserable  existence  than  that  of  the  Eng- 
lish vagabond  boy,  exposed  to  snow  and  frost, 
sleet  and  rain,  for  half  the  year,  and  to  whom 
shelter  and  strong  thick  clothing  and  firing 
are  not  luxuries,  properly  speaking,  but  neces- 
saries. Morally,  however,  the  Moslim  boy  is 
worse  off,  because  his  chance  of  falling  in  with 
one  to  "show  him  any  good"  is  so  much 
smaller :  as  yet  we  can  hardly  say  it  amounts 
to  a  chance  at  all.  No  open-air  preacher  for 
him ;  no  city  missionary  to  collect  a  listening 
crowd  and  attract  their  attention  and  draw 
them  gradually  from  things  of  earth  to  things 
of  heaven ;  no  kind  gentleman  to  stop  him  in 
his  career  of  vice  and  idleness,  by  asking 
where  he  goes  to  school,  and  telling  him  of 
the  ragged-school  in  such  a  street,  and  the 
shoe-blacks'  refuge  in  such  another,  or  the  re- 
formatory in  a  third ;  no  pious  neighbour  to 
drop  a  good  word  and  invite  him  to  turn  from 
evil.  When  not  running  after  his  donkey,  or 
scrambling  for  a  living  in  some  other  way,  he 


THE  CITY  ARABS. 


123 


is  lounging  2  bout  with  his  comrades  in  the 
streets,  or  roJing  in  the  warm  dust  by  the 
road-side,  clad  in  a  ragged  blue  shirt,  or  the 
fragments  of  an  old  rough  garment  of  hair, 
striped  brown  and  white,  which  is  so  familiar 
to  an  Eastern  traveller's  eye,  and  a  dirty  cotton 
cap  or  a  striped  cotton  towel  by  way  of  turban, 
as  his  head-covering :  there  he  lies, — soul  and 
body  in  the  dust,  if  one  may  say  so ;  and  for 
long  years  no  man  cared  for  his  soul;  but 
we  cannot  say  so  now,  and  we  believe  that  no 
home  ragged-school  will  suffer  because  the 
attention  of  Christian  philanthropists  has  been 
now  turned  to  Moslim  children  also. 

Perhaps  the  best  motto  for  all  who  labour 
in  the  vineyard,  whether  at  home  or  abroad, 
is,  "  Whosoever  will,  let  him  come  and  drinK 
of  the  water  of  life  freely."  Of  whatever 
creed,  of  whatever  tribe,  if  he  has  not  drunk 
of  that  water,  he  is  perishing;  and  that  is 
enough  for  God's  servants. 


124 


CHILD-LIFE  IK  EGYPT. 


CHAPTER  XII. 

THREE  DAYS  AT  SUEZ. 

(^TfyO  those  who  have  resided  for  any  time 
a^  Cairo,  Suez  has  become  a  very  fa- 
miliar name,  being  not  merely  the  chief,  but 
the  only,  southern  seaport,  and  the  key  to 
India;  and  thus  it  is  associated  with  many 
important  things,  though  in  itself  a  very  un- 
important-looking place.  A  collection  of  flat- 
roofed,  insignificant,  mud-brick  houses,  with 
one  or  two  a  little  superior,  belonging  to 
foreign  consuls,  and  one  large  white  building, 
which  is  the  English  hotel, — this  is  Suez;  and 
many  people  assured  us  it  was  not  worth  a 
visit ;  but  they  forgot  the  Red  Sea.  Were  it 
not  at  all  beautiful,  it  would  surely  be  worth 
a  visit  for  the  sake  of  associat:  Dn.    But  th^ 


THREE  DAYS  AT  SUEZ. 


125 


beauty  is  great :  the  colouring  given  by  that 
southern  atmosphere  must  be  seen  in  order  to 
be  conceived.  It  is  very  far  superior  even  to 
that  of  Cairo.  The  intense  green  and  bJue  of 
the  shining  waters,  the  transparent  glow  on 
the  cliffs  near  the  city,  and  the  yet  more  fairy- 
like brilliancy  of  the  distant  Arabian  hills  on 
the  opposite  side,  are  beyond  any  pen  or  brush 
adequately  to  represent.  True,  there  is  no 
foliage,  and  one  might  weary  of  living  in  such 
a  place,  therefore,  and  wish  for  trees  and 
streams  again ;  but  that  any  one  with  eyes  in 
his  head  should  see  no  beauty  in  Suez,  nothing 
to  make  it  worth  a  visit,  is  astonishing  to  me. 
The  air  is  very  pure  and  delightful,  and  more 
strengthening  than  that  of  Cairo,  which,  when 
the  hot  weather  sets  in,  becomes  relaxing. 
Three  days  spent  at  Suez  enabled  me  to  work 
with  renewed  vigour  on  returning  to  the  school. 
Though  exceedingly  hot,  it  was  not  the  least 
oppressive,  and  a  breeze  tempered  the  heat  of 
the  sun. 

Within  the  doors  of  the  hotel  everv  thing, 
11* 


126 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EG  xPT. 


except  the  Hindoo  servants,  was  English; 
Egyptian  life  seemed  to  have  disappeared  alto- 
gether ;  but  as  soon  as  one  left  it  the  illusion 
was  over,  and  the  Arabic  tongue  again  greeted 
one's  ears. 

I  found  several  studies  for  the  pencil  in 
Arabs  from  the  opposite  coast,  and  in  children 
of  the  town  who  came  to  play  about  near  the 
hotel. 

It  must  be  an  inveterate  late  riser  who  is 
not  up  early  in  an  April  morning  at  Suez. 
The  delicious  coolness  of  the  air  at  five  o'clock, 
and  the  effect  of  the  sun's  first  rays  stealing 
softly  down  the  cliffs  and  gilding  the  waves 
of  the  Bed  Sea,  are  a  treat  worth  a  little 
trouble  to  enjoy. 

At  six  o'clock  I  came  down  with  a  drawing- 
book  to  sit  near  the  door,  sheltered  by  stone 
pillars.  A  Hindoo  servant  brought  me  a 
chair,  and  presently  two  little  girls,  natives  of 
the  place,  came  up,  and  furnished  pretty  sub- 
jects for  a  drawing.  They  were  dressed  in 
their  best,  it  being  a  festival-day,  and  were 


THREE  DAYS  AT  SUEZ.  127 


very  proud  of  their  gay  print  trousers  and 
spangled  head-kerchiefs.  I  promised  a  cake  to 
each  if  they  would  stand  still,  which  they  con- 
sented to  do ;  and  then,  after  admiring  their 
own  likenesses  and  vainly  trying  to  obtain 
possession  of  them  by  entreat /es,  they  begged 
to  look  at  the  contents  of  my  travelling-bag, 
and  presently  pulled  out  an  Arabic  tract. 
One  of  them  begged  to  have  it  as  soon  as  she 
saw  the  characters. 

"  Can  you  read  ?"  I  asked. 

"  A  little,"  she  replied.  Twas  doubtful,  and 
proved,  by  showing  her  the  letters  in  the  tract, 
that  she  could  not ;  she  just  knew  an  alef,  but 
no  other  letter :  probably  some  brother  had 
tried  to  show  her  the  letters  when  fresh  from 
the  native  school. 

However,  the  child  was  so  anxious  for  the 
little  book  that  I  at  length  gave  it  to  her, 
hoping  that,  as  Arabs  will  seldom  destroy  any 
printed  paper,  it  might  some  day  fall  into 
hands  which  could  make  use  of  it.  A  man 
who  was  loitering  about,  listening  to  my  con- 


128 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


versation  with  the  girls,  now  came  up  and 
asked  if  I  had  another  book :  fortunately  I 
had,  and  with  much  pleasure  saw  him  retire 
to  a  shady  spot  and  sit  reading  it  for  some 
time, — in  fact,  till  I  went  in  to  breakfast. 

The  talk  I  had  with  these  children  made  me 
wish  we  could  have  some  day  a  branch  school 
at  Suez.  They  seemed  very  lively,  intelligent 
little  creatures,  about  nine  and  ten  years  old, 
darker  in  complexion  than  the  Cairo  children ; 
but  one  was  very  pretty,  and  had  a  winning 
expression  in  her  merry  black  eyes.  They 
would  willingly  have  stayed  longer  with  me, 
had  not  the  rest  of  the  party  coming  out 
frightened  them  away. 

The  town  was  all  alive  with  the  native  fes- 
tival, and  we  were  urged  to  see  the  sports  that 
were  going  on  by  an  Arab  servant  of  the 
hotel,  who  assured  us  there  were  very  amusing 
things  to  see,  especially  some  man's  perform- 
ance, which  he  vainly  endeavoured  to  de- 
scribe in  his  broken  English;  for  he  was  too 
proud  of  speaking  it  to  comply  with  my  re- 


THREE  DAYS  AT  SUEZ. 


129 


quest  that  lie  would  "speak  Arabic."  "It  is 
a  man, — lie  from  Jeddo — they  make  shoe — 
but  not  shoe  exactly — it  very  funny,  very  good, 
— you  go  see  it — like  this,"  (touching  an  um- 
brella.) What  could  be  the  connection  between 
a  shoe  and  an  umbrella  seemed  mysterious; 
but  it  was  explained  when  we  had,  under  his 
guidance,  threaded  our  way  through  several 
narrow,  dusty  streets  to  an  open  space  where 
a  couple  of  tents  were  pitched  in  the  midst  of 
a  gay  and  noisy  crowd.  Inside  one  of  these — 
which  was  what  he  meant  by  "  like  an  urn- 
brella' — were  a  set  of  men  who  wore  a  pe- 
culiar kind  of  sandal,  between  a  sandal  and  a 
shoe,  fastened  by  green  leather  straps  round 
the  ankle.  Some  of  these  performed  a  rude 
kind  of  music,  with  tambourines,  daraboukahs 
and  native  guitars,  while  a  black  man  danced 
in  the  middle,  his  actions  much  resembling 
those  of  a  Donnybrook  jig.  But  his  jet-black 
face  and  rolling  eyes,  and  the  bare  arms  and 
legs  with  which  he  made  all  sorts  of  queer  ges- 
tures and  antics,  gave  a  more  savage  air  to 
I 


130 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


the  performance.  The  tent  was  crowded  and 
suffocatingly  hot :  so  we  could  not  remain  many 
minutes,  and  soon  retreated  into  the  fresh  air 
again.  Two  or  three  coffee-houses  round  the 
open  space  on  which  stood  the  tents  were  filled 
with  customers,  though  it  was  but  ten  o'clock 
in  the  morning,  and  the  swings  and  merry-go- 
rounds  were  equally  popular ;  and  it  was  divert- 
ing to  see  the  numbers  of  great  men  who  were 
enjoying  this  amusement  with  as  much  relish 
as  the  little  children.  The  crowd  looked  like 
a  tulip-bed,  with  the  gay  colours  which  almost 
every  one,  even  of  the  poorer  classes,  sported 
on  this  occasion.  Among  the  children  bright 
yellow  was  a  favourite  dress;  with  the  men, 
crimson,  blue  or  violet  caftans ;  while  the  ne- 
groes and  Nubians  wore  every  colour  of  the 
rainbow. 

We  stayed  here  till  the  sun  became  too  hot 
for  Europeans  to  stand  in ;  but  the  people  did 
not  seem  to  find  the  violent  exercise  they  were 
taking  in  the  swings,  &c.  at  all  exhausting. 
It  was  a  comfort  to  recollect  that  coffee  and 


THREE  DaYS  AT  SUEZ. 


131 


sweetmeats  were  the  only  refreshments  par- 
taken of  by  these  crowds  of  people  :  so  that,  if 
childish,  their  amusements  were  more  harmless 
than  those  of  fairs  and  merry-makings  in  our' 
more  enlightened  country,  where  drunken- 
ness is  the  common  finish  to  the  day's  enter- 
tainments, 

While  at  Suez,  we  made  an  excursion  to  the 
opposite  coast,  which  might  well  have  been 
prolonged,  so  full  of  interest  is  that  desert,  had 
circumstances  permitted  it :  it  was,  indeed, 
rather  a  disappointment  not  to  get  as  far  as 
the  palm-trees  of  Elim.  But  travellers  are 
usually  dependent  on  one  another,  and  every- 
body is  not  equally  fond  of  sandy  deserts  and 
camel-riding,  nor,  indeed,  are  all  equally  fitted 
to  endure  the  heat  and  fatigue.  So  we  only 
went  one  day's  journey  to  Ain  Moussa,  a  well 
with  an  oasis  around  it,  situated  a  few  miles 
from  the  Red  Sea,  in  the  Arabian  desert.  We 
sailed  across  to  the  shore  opposite  Suez  in  one 
of  the  picturesque  boats  peculiar  to  the  Red 
Sea,  and  then  mounted   the   steeds  which 


132 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


awaited  us  there,  consisting  of  some  very  in- 
different and  ill-fed  camels,  and  some  donkeys 
to  match.  No  better  could  be  had :  so  it  was 
necessary  to  make  the  best  of  them,  and  to 
stick  on  as  well  as  one  could  without  proper 
saddles  of  any  kind.  It  was  unlucky  for  those 
of  the  party  who  had  never  before  mounted 
a  camel ;  and  they  kept  their  seats  with  diffi- 
culty for  the  first  hour.  Being  accustomed 
to  the  motion,  I  was  more  independent  of  cir- 
cumstances, and  could  fully  enjoy  the  exquisite 
beauty  of  the  scenery.  Though  all  was  bare 
desert  around  us,  the  distant  cliffs  on  the 
African  shore,  with  the  strip  of  golden  sand 
dividing  them  from  the  blue  and  sparkling 
waters  of  the  sea,  changed  so  constantly  with 
the  shifting  shadows  made  by  the  light,  fleecy 
clouds  of  the  morning,  that  there  was  no  mo- 
notony in  the  view  until  midday  had  arrived, 
when  the  heat  became  intense  and  produced 
a  slight  haze  dimming  the  distant  objects  a 
little.  But  the  purity  and  lightness  of  the 
air  were  such  that  I  did  not  feel  the  least  op- 


THREE  DAYS  AT  SUEZ. 


133 


pressed  with  the  heat, — though  I  am  sure  it 
was  considerable. 

More  than  once  we  had  the  pleasure  of 
seeing  a  beautiful  mirage  with  the  reflection 
of  the  sand-hills  reversed,  just  as  they  would 
be  in  a  real  pool,  in  the  seemingly  clear  blue 
waters ;  as  we  drew  near,  a  faint  mist  ap- 
peared to  rise,  quivering  above  the  water,  and 
then  all  vanished  into  thin  air,  and  the  burn- 
ing yellow  sand  and  pebbles  alone  remained. 

After  the  mirage  came  the  oasis,  like  the 
reality  of  happiness  after  disappointments  and 
deceptions.  First  a  green  spot  came  in  view 
in  the  far  distance,  and  we  said,  "  Perhaps  it 
is  only  a  mirage,  like  the  last;"  but  it  grew 
larger  and  larger;  then  the  feathery  palms 
became  distinct  against  the  noontide  sky  of 
pale,  cloudless  blue.  Then  the  groves  of  pome- 
granates and  acacias,  with  their  scarlet  and 
yellow  blossoms,  burst  on  our  sight,  with  beds 
of  fresh  green  at  their  feet,  and  tiny  channels 
of  water  running  in  every  direction  through 

the  garden.    A  few  small  stone  huts  stood 
12 


134  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


near,  occupied  by  the  Arabs,  only  two  or  three 
families,  I  believe,  who  cultivate  this  small  fer- 
tile spot  in  the  wide  waste  of  "  salt-land  not 
inhabited,"  and  who  defend  it  from  the  shift- 
ing sands  by  palings  of  reeds.  The  beauty 
was  doubtless  increased  by  contrast;  but  I 
thought,  at  the  time,  nothing  had  ever  seemed 
lovelier  than  this  little  oasis,  with  its  date- 
palms  mixing  their  long  clusters  of  creamy 
flowers  with  the  roses  that  grew  underneath 
them,  and  the  trickling  sound  of  the  water 
greeting  the  ear  so  refreshingly,  as  we  sat 
in  the  shade. 

I  sketched  two  old  Bedouins,  while  the  rest 
of  the  party  were  reposing  or  wandering 
about  the  garden,  and  found,  by  questioning 
them,  that  there  was  one  man  in  the  settle- 
ment who  could  read,  though  he  was  absent 
just  then.  I  gave  them  a  tract,  therefore,  say- 
ing, "He  can  read,  and  you  can  listen."  They 
appeared  pleased,  and  put  it  up  carefully.  An- 
other of  the  party,  sketching  at  a  short  distance 
from  the  oasis,  had  an  interesting  little  talk 


THREE  DAYS  AT  SUEZ. 


135 


with  a  boy  belonging  to  the  place :  possibly 
he  and  the  man  who  could  read  are  father 
and  son:  at  any  rate,  they  were  sure  to  be 
intimately  acquainted,  as  in  a  colony  so  small 
all  know  each  other  well,  and  would  talk  about 
the  strangers'  visit;  and  perhaps  the  tract 
may  not  be  altogether  lost  even  among  those 
wild,  ignorant  creatures. 

A  poor  Bedouin  woman  brought  me  a  rose 
from  the  garden,  just  before  we  remounted 
our  camels.  It  seemed  more  beautiful  in  the 
midst  of  that  sandy  waste  than  if  gathered  in 
the  gardens  of  the  Pasha  at  Cairo;  and  I 
thought,  what  an  opportunity  one  with  full 
command  of  the  language  would  have  had  for 
discoursing  to  these  poor  ragged  Arabs  of  the 
oasis :  he  could  have  shown  them  how  the 
barren,  sandy  desert  becomes  fertile,  and 
brings  forth  flowers  and  fruit,  when  the  water 
reaches  it,  and  that  Moses'  well  and  the  oasis 
are  just  an  emblem  of  the  Holy  Spirit  acting 
on  the  barren  and  sinful  heart  of  man  and 
making  it  fruitful  to  the  Lord. 


136  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


During  our  homeward  ride  the  Arabs  who 
conducted  us  became  rude  and  cross-tempered, 
and  wished  to  make  us  hurry  beyond  our 
powers  of  endurance,  because  they  were  irri- 
tated by  hunger  and  thirst,  poor  fellows !  and 
anxious  to  get  home  as  early  as  possible.  I 
told  one,  who  tried  to  insist  on  my  camel's 
trotting,  though  repeatedly  begged  to  desist, 
that  he  was  not  obeying  God,  as  he  supposed, 
by  refraining  from  water, — that  God  gave  us 
water,  and  has  never  forbidden  us  to  drink 
when  we  need  it.  "  It  is  not  God  who  says, 
'  Do  not  drink,' "  I  said.  The  man  shook  his 
head  dismally,  and  looked  at  the  sky  anxiously, 
to  see  when  sunset  would  come,  and  then 
vented  his  discomfort  in  quarrelling  with  one 
of  his  comrades. 

How  much  easier  it  is  to  bear  self-imposed 
trials  than  to  restrain  the  evil  emotions  of  the 
heart !  These  very  men,  who  would  not  accept 
a  drop  of  water  when  parched  with  thirst,  had 
no  scruple  in  stealing  the  travelling-bag  of  one 
of  the  party,  which  had  excited  their  cupidity, 


THREE  DAYS  AT  SUEZ. 


137 


and  which  proved  to  be  missing  when  we 
arrived  at  the  boats. 

It  was  pleasant,  on  returning  to  Cairo  the 
following  day,  to  be  greeted  with  a  storm  of 
affectionate  welcomes  from  our  Syrian  family, 
and  also  from  many  of  the  mothers,  who  came 
early  next  morning  to  kiss  our  hands  and  say, 
with  beaming  faces,  "  The  Lord  be  praisedt 
you  are  come  back !    "Welcome !  welcome  I" 

IS* 


138 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


CHAPTER  XIII. 

RECRUITING. 

(JCT^-HE  school  had  gone  on  swimmingly 
J^jjg  enough  for  some  little  time,  when  sud- 
denly the  scholars  began  to  fall  off,  and  the 
numbers  became  thinner  and  thinner  each  day. 
To  ascertain  the  exact  cause  was  not  easy,  as 
the  children  who  continued  to  come  assigned 
various  reasons  for  the  absence  of  their  com- 
panions, many  of  which  were  probably  mere 
gossip,  or  fictions  of  their  own.  The  same 
thing  had  happened  before,  first  from  the  old 
seedsman's  exertions,  or  rather  from  those  of 
his  more  active  daughters,  his  ill  will  being 
confined  to  telling  lies  as  he  reposed  among 
his  heaps  of  beans  and  lentils;  then  the  tale 
spread  by  Shoh's  mother,  about  kidnapping 


RECRUITING. 


139 


children,  had  for  a  time  thinned  aur  ranks; 
and  even  little  Saida,  the  miller's  pretty  and 
most  troublesome  daughter,  had,  when  in  a 
spiteful  mood,  kept  many  new-comers  from 
returning,  by  her  persuasions. 

When  the  school  had  been  thus  robbed  of 
its  inmates  in  its  earlier  days,  I  had  tried  all 
sorts  of  plans  to  get  back  the  scholars,  and  to 
stop  the  false  reporters  who  did  the  mischief. 
The  old  people  were  remonstrated  with,  the 
little  torment  was  threatened,  and  even  locked 
up  by  her  father,  at  the  request  of  our  servant ; 
but  the  effect  of  these  and  similar  efforts  was 
not  very  encouraging,  and,  taught  by  expe- 
rience, I  learned  that  the  only  way  to  fill  the 
school,  or  to  keep  it  well  attended,  was  to  go 
round  and  beat  up  for  recruits  from  time  to 
time,  as  well  as  to  visit  the  parents  of  the  old 
scholars  occasionally.  Leaving  the  matron  in 
charge  of  the  sadly-reduced  reading-class,  I 
therefore  set  out  one  broiling  hot  morning,  at 
a  pretty  early  hour, — morning  visits,  in  a  literal 
sense,  being  the  only  ones  practicable  at  that 


140 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


time  of  year, — and  took  Menni  with  me,  into 
some  of  the  dirty  lanes  round  our  dwelling. 

After  calling  on  one  or  two  old  acquaint- 
ances, we  turned  up  the  lane  called  "Abou- 
bakr,"  in  which  several  of  the  scholars  lived, 
and  which  always  seemed  actually  to  swarm 
with  ragged  children  of  every  age.  It  is  very 
unlike  the  open,  airy  street  on  the  other  side 
of  the  school,  and,  but  for  the  extreme  dryness 
of  the  air,  it  would  be  as  bad  as  the  worst 
alleys  of  Dublin  or  London.  As  it  is,  no 
dampness  exists  in  the  atmosphere  to  retain 
bad  smells,  and  therefore  it  is  not  quite  so 
dreadful  as  the  heaps  of  dirt  and  rubbish  would 
lead  one  to  expect,  though  very  close,  certainly, 
the  beams  of  some  of  the  houses  actually 
meeting  overhead,  while  all  are  in  a  state  of 
decay  and  disorder  beyond  description. 

Shoh  lived  in  some  part  of  this  rabbit- 
warren,  and,  knowing  that  she  could  direct  us 
to  the  abode  of  others,  Menni  endeavoured  to 
find  her  out;  but,  while  questioning  some  of 
the  little  boys  who  were  rolling  about  in  the 


RECRUITING. 


141 


rubbish  upon  this  point,  a  woman's  voice  called 
out  to  us,  and,  looking  up,  I  perceived  a  tall, 
stout  person,  clad  in  the  ordinary  dark-blue 
drapery,  standing  at  a  short  distance,  and 
beckoning  to  us  in  Eastern  fashion, — that  is, 
waving  the  hand  exactly  as  we  do  when  we 
wish  any  one  to  go  away.  The  face  I  thought 
I  could  recognize  as  that  of  one  who  had  peeped 
into  the  school  some  time  ago  and  introduced 
herself  as  aunt  to  some  one  of  the  scholars; 
but  I  could  not  be  sure.  She  saluted  us 
civilly,  and  requested  that  we  would  come  and 
pay  her  a  visit.  Menni,  who  was  a  great 
coward,  hung  back  and  begged  me  not  to  go, 
in  a  whisper.  But  this  would  never  do :  no  evil 
was,  apparently,  intended,  and  we  were  within 
a  hundred  yards  or  so  of  our  own  residence, 
and  not  unprotected,  therefore. 

"They  are  Moslims!"  whispered  Menni,  as 
we  followed  the  woman. 

"That  does  not  signify:  come  along,  and 
fear  nothing." 

Some  other  women  were  looking  on,  rather 


142 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


curious  to  see  if  the  invitation  would  be  ac- 
cepted or  not,  and  smiled  on  seeing  us  ascend 
the  broken  steps  which  led  to  the  inviter's 
room,  which  opened  on  a  sort  of  mud  terrace 
which  seemed  falling  to  pieces.  Her  room 
was  large,  and  only  lighted  by  one  window 
furnished  with  a  rude  wooden  lattice  instead 
of  glass.  Several  persons  were  sitting  on  the 
floor, — an  old  man,  smoking  a  long  pipe,  in 
one  corner,  and  three  or  four  women  beside 
him,  probably  his  married  daughters  or  sons' 
wives,  as  they  had  not  their  faces  concealed. 
Several  other  women,  with  infants  in  their  arms 
or  on  their  shoulders,  presently  came  in,  par- 
tially veiling  themselves,  though  only  as  a  sort 
of  form,  for  they  soon  threw  back  the  covering, 
laughing  as  they  did  so. 

A  young  lad  of  sixteen  or  seventeen,  who 
was,  I  think,  the  elder  woman's  son,  was  the 
only  man,  except  the  old  father  in  the  corner; 
but  at  least  thirteen  or  fourteen  persons  alto- 
gether were  assembled  by  this  time,  and 
Menni's  fears  returned  at  finding  herself  in 


RECRUITING. 


143 


such  a  crowd  of  Moslims ;  and  when  one  of  the 
women  patted  her  on  the  back,  and  said, 
"Little  teacher!"  she  whispered,  "Let  us  go 
away:  they  will  only  laugh  at  us!"  But  she 
was  overruled,  and  the  mistress  of  the  apart- 
ment now  begged  us  to  be  seated  on  an  old 
bedstead  of  some  kind,  which  did  duty  as 
divan,  and  was  the  only  visible  article  of  fur- 
niture in  the  place, — though  it  was  so  dark  that 
some  things  may  have  been  stowed  away  in 
the  corners,  out  of  sight. 

After  a  moment's  silence,  in  which  we  all 
stared  at  one  another,  the  stout  woman 
squatted  down  in  front  of  us  and  desired  Menni 
to  tell  her  my  name :  then,  patting  me  encoura- 
gingly, and  with  a  most  patronizing  smile,  she 
told  me  to  "speak."  Even  with  full  command 
of  language,  it  is  dampening  to  the  powers  to 
be  thus  suddenly  called  on;  but  the  difficulty 
is  tenfold  when  the  request  has  to  be  complied 
with  in  a  tongue  very  imperfectly  understood. 
In  such  cases,  one  can  only  recollect  that,  as  a 
"broken  sherd"  may  be  used  to  carry  a  little 


144  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


fire  or  water  upon  an  emergency,  so  God  may 
see  fit  to  make  use  of  very  feeble  instruments ; 
and,  when  no  better  means  are  at  hand,  we 
can  but  take  what  we  have. 

Some  reports  about  the  school  had  reached 
this  woman,  and  she  and  her  friends  evidently 
wished  to  hear  about  it:  so  I  endeavoured  to 
describe  the  objects  we  had  in  view,  telling 
them  that  I  came  out  this  morning  to  ask 
mothers  to  send  their  children,  and  to  show 
them  that  it  was  good  to  do  so,  and  that 
Menni's  mother  taught  them  to  read  and  to 
sew. 

When  we  had  got  thus  far,  the  woman  inter- 
rupted me  by  asking  if  the  gown  I  wore  were 
all  sewed  by  myself,  what  it  was  made  of,  and 
a  good  many  other  questions,  feeling  each 
article  and  giving  her  opinion  on  it  before  she 
would  let  us  return  to  the  subject  of  the 
school.  At  length  the  dress  was  exhausted, 
and  she  good-humouredly  desired  me  "to  go 
on  speaking." 


RECRUITING. 


145 


"  Well,  in  our  school  we  have  one  book  from 
which  we  teach/'  I  said. 

"  Listen !  listen !"  exclaimed  the  stout  woman, 
turning  round  to  her  neighbours  and  echoing 
the  words:  "she  says  there  is  one  book." 

"Yes;  and  it  is  the  book  of  God." 

"Listen:  she  says  it  is  the  book  of  God!" 

"All  in  it  is  good  " 

"Certainly  it  must  be  good,"  repeated  the 
woman. 

"It  tells  us  many  things:  it  speaks  of  Moses, 
of  Joseph,  of  the  prophet  David." 

"  Listen  !"  cried  the  echo,  more  eagerly  than 
before :  "  this  book  tells  of  the  prophets  David 
and  Moses,  and  also  of  Joseph."  These  names 
are  much  venerated  by  even  the  poorest  and 
most  ignorant  Moslims,  who  know  scarcely  any 
thing  of  them  beyond  the  names :  the  woman 
was,  therefore,  quite  interested,  and  pulled  her 
son's  arm  to  make  him  attend. 

"But,  mere  than  this,  the  book  I  speak  of 
contains  the  Gospel  also,  which  tells  of  Seidna 
Issa  (the  common  Moslim  name  for  Jesus),  the 

K  13 


146 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


Messiah. — how  he  came  from  heaven  and  died 
for  us,  and  how  good  he  was."  I  added  that 
I  could  tell  them  but  little  of  all  this,  because 
I  knew  but  little  of  their  language.  The  woman 
applauded  me,  however,  and  nodded  in  a  very- 
encouraging  way,  desiring  me  to  proceed,  and 
the  others  said,  "Good!  good!" 

I  endeavoured,  as  well  as  I  could,  to  explain 
that  the  Bible  taught  us  to  know  and  love 
God;  that  it  was  the  same  book,  whether  in 
English  or  Arabic,  and  taught  all  who  read  it 
the  same  things;  and  that  if  their  children 
did  not  love  God  they  could  never  be  good,  so 
we  desired  to  teach  them  to  love  and  obey 
him  as  far  as  we  could. 

"Do  you  pray?" 

I  told  her  we  did,  and  that  the  girls  were 
taught  to  pray  to  God;  the  matron  prayed 
with  them  daily. 

"But  have  you  no  pictures?"  (messing  pic- 
tures to  pray  to,  like  the  Copts.) 

I  told  her  that  I  allowed  nothing  of  that 
kind,  and  thought  it  wrong  to  pray  or  bow 


RECRUITING. 


147 


the  head  to  any  picture  or  image :  the  pic- 
tures in  the  school  were  only  to  teach  the 
children,  and  to  make  the  place  look  pretty. 

"  Do  you  not  beat  the  girls  ?" 

"  Iso,  no !  certainly  not.  We  have  no 
sticks :  we  have  books,  needles,  thimbles,  pic- 
tures to  teach  them,  but  no  sticks." 

All  the  party  laughed  at  this ;  for  a  school 
without  a  stick  to  beat  the  pupils  was  quite  a 
novel  idea,  but  it  pleased  them  very  well. 
Shortly  after  I  took  leave,  amid  many  friendly 
"salaams,"  and  the  women  dispersed. 

Several  of  our  old  pupils  whom  we  met  stand- 
ing at  their  doors  or  playing  about  were  ac- 
costed; and  some  promised  to  come  back  to 
school,  having  stayed  away  only  from  idleness. 
One  had  been  kept  by  her  mother  to  help  make 
bread,  and  showed  a  face  and  arms  all  white 
with  flour,  but  grinned  with  satisfaction  at 
being  visited,  and  promised  not  to  fail  to  come 
when  the  bread  was  done.  This  poor  child, 
whose  name  was  Mellaky  (princess),  was  par- 
ticularly wretched-looking,  and  did  not  seem 


148 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


to  have  always  bread  enough  to  eat,  judging 
from  her  appearance :  her  name  was  a  mockery, 
in  contrast  to  her  dirty  blue  rags.  Shoh  was 
out,  but  we  picked  up  recruits  enough  without 
her  aid ;  and  when  we  returned  home,  pretty 
well  heated  and  tired,  though  it  was  scarcely 
yet  ten  o'clock,  an  incursion  of  bright-eyed, 
wild,  untamed  little  creatures  soon  followed 
us,  and  rushed  into  the  school-room,  in  a  body, 
to  prove  the  success  of  the  effort. 

Some  were  old  scholars  returned,  but  more 
were  new  ones;  and  though  they  did  not  all 
prove  steady  pupils  and  come  regularly,  still,  if 
a  few  were  thus  caught,  it  was  something ;  and 
similar  visiting  and  recruiting  excursions  from 
time  to  time  would,  with  God's  blessing,  prove 
the  best  way  of  keeping  up  the  numbers :  at 
least,  so  it  appears  to  me.  We  must  be  pre- 
pared for  a  very  fluctuating  attendance  at  all 
times  in  a  school  for  the  poorest  class  of  chil- 
dren, and  in  a  country  where  the  girls  are 
taken  away  to  be  married  so  early;  and  from 
time  to  time  opposition,  and  perhaps  persecu- 


RECRUITING. 


149 


tion,  may  arise;  but  I  see  no  reason  to  be 
discouraged,  on  the  whole :  there  is  much  to 
hope  as  well  as  much  to  fear,  and  by  degrees 
some  of  these  wild  colts  will  be  tamed  down 
and  brought  under  Christian  influence.  More 
we  cannot  do :  no  human  power  can  make  con- 
verts; and  therefore  it  is  in  perfect  honesty 
and  good  faith  that  we  can  reply  to  those  who 
say,  "Do  you  mean  to  make  Christians  of  your 
pupils  ?"  "  We  are  not  able  to  do  so:  we  shall 
teach  them  God's  word  and  tell  them  the 
truth;  but  it  is  not  our  province  to  make 
Christians." 

The  new  recruits  were  dreadfully  dirty,  of 
course,  and  it  was  quite  diverting  to  see  one 
or  two  of  the  earlier  ones  leading  them  to  the 
water-jar  and  assisting  them  to  wash  face  and 
hands,  saying,  "0  girl,  thou  art  dirty!"  just 
as  if  they  had  not  been  exactly  the  same  a 
little  while  ago.  They  were  all  promised  a 
treat,  that  is  to  say,  a  visit  to  a  garden, — their 
highest  idea  of  enjoyment, — if  they  were  good 
and  came  steadily  to  school ;  and  the  hcpe  was 

13* 


150 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


doubtless  an  assistance  to  some  weak  me- 
mories. 

It  was  on  this  day,  and  while  the  children 
were  just  going  to  commence  needlework  (that 
is,  about  the  hottest  part  of  the  twenty-four 
hours),  that  we  had  a  specimen  of  domestic 
life  of  a  very  painful  kind.  Screams  and  loud 
talking  in  the  lane  attracted  our  attention, 
and,  looking  out  of  a  window,  a  street-row  was 
perceived  to  be  going  on.  A  young  woman 
was  struggling  in  the  midst  of  a  crowd,  and 
two  older  women  were  beating  her  furiously 
and  tearing  her  clothes,  while  she  shrieked  and 
scolded  in  return;  and  the  crowd,  who  were 
chiefly  women  and  children,  did  not  seem  to  be 
making  the  slightest  effort  to  rescue  her.  We 
soon  saw  that  poor  Shoh  was  the  victim  :  one 
of  the  women  dragged  her  along  the  ground 
by  her  long  hair,  her  veil  having  been  torn  off, 
and  struck  her  when  she  attempted  to  rise. 

I  sent  Um  Usuf  down  to  try  and  separate 
them,  but,  ere  she  could  reach  them,  Shoh  had 
been  still  further  aggravated :  a  boy,  insti  - 


RECRUITING. 


151 


gated  by  one  of  the  women,  rushed  on  her  and 
bit  her  arm  and  shoulder  cruelly.  She  then 
rolled  on  the  ground,  like  a  wild  animal,  re- 
fusing to  rise  even  when  the  matron  came  up 
and  tried  to  help  her :  presently  she  started  up 
by  a  sudden  effort,  and  began  raving  and,  I 
fear,  swearing  at  her  tormentors,  who  seemed 
meditating  afresh  attack. 

Um  Usuf  looked  up  to  the  window,  and  said, 
"  What  shall  I  do  ?  she  will  not  come  with  me." 
I  ran  down  myself,  hoping  she  might  yield  to 
me.  The  crowd,  which  had  been  augmented 
by  several  men,  did  not  attempt  to  make  way 
for  me ;  but  when  I  gently  pushed  one  or  two 
of  the  women  they  looked  round  and  then 
drew  back  a  little,  so  that  I  could  force  a 
passage  through  to  the  sobbing  Shoh.  I 
caught  her  arm,  and  said,  "  Come,  my  poor 
child;  come  with  me!"  She  followed  with- 
out a  word,  nor  did  the  women  oppose  her 
departure :  they  were  no  others  than  her  own 
mother  and  aunt,  who  had  been  provoked  with 


152  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


her  for  declining  to  lend  the  aunt  a  new  jacket 
she  had  just  made  for  herself. 

I  led  the  poor  victim  up-stairs  into  the  ma- 
tron's room:  she  was  a  deplorable  figure,  with 
her  dishevelled  hair  and  torn  and  dusty  dress, 
and  face  flushed  crimsmi  through  its  dark 
skin,  and  all  stained  with  tears  and  dirt.  She 
stripped  up  her  sleeve,  and  I  saw  the  arm 
actually  bleeding  and  bearing  the  marks  of 
the  boy's  teeth, — her  own  cousin,  he  probably 
was ;  for  the  aunt  was  the  one  who  had  set  him 
on  to  this  cowardly  and  savage  action  to  re- 
venge her  supposed  wrong.  I  bound  up  the 
wound  with  a  bandage  steeped  in  arnica  and 
water,  which  healed  it  entirely  in  a  couple  of 
days,  by  being  renewed  occasionally.  But  the 
bitter  feelings  excited  by  such  a  scene  were  not 
likely  to  be  so  soon  cured.  She  was  left  to  lie 
down,  after  a  composing  draught,  on  the  ma- 
tron's bed  for  an  hour's  rest,  after  which  she  • 
went  quietly  home.  Does  not  such  a  scene 
show  the  crying  necessity  for  female  education 
in  the  East  ? 


A  SCHOOL-TREAT  IN  CAIRO.  153 


CHAPTER  XIV. 

A  SCHOOL-TREAT  IN  CAIRO. 

FEAR  our  English  friends  would  have 
said  we  were  a  disorderly  set  could 
they  have  seen  the  preparations  for  a  little 
excursion  given  to  the  children  in  the  month 
of  May. 

To  be  sure,  it  was  a  strange  contrast  to  the 
"  school- treats"  now  so  familiar  to  all  who  take 
an  interest  in  the  rising  generation;  but 
"  with  wolves  one  must  howl,"  says  the  Ger- 
man proverb,  and,  without  carrying  out  this 
very  liberal-minded  axiom  to  the  uttermost, 
one  must  accommodate  things  to  national 
tastes  in  a  certain  degree;  and,  moreover, 
even  the  order  and  discipline  we  hope  in 
time  to  attain  cannot  be  expected  all  at  once. 


154  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


Instead  of  a  tidy  and  somewhat  stiff-look- 
ing mistress,  in  a  spotless  bonnet  and  shawl 
and  well-ironed  collar,  ushering  an  array  of 
little  damsels  in  brown-stuff  frocks  and  white 
tippets,  or,  if  not  in  uniform,  at  least  "got  up" 
with  new  ribbons  on  their  straw  bonnets  and 
as  much  starch  as  possible  in  their  clean  pin- 
afores, all  waiting  the  word  of  command,  in 
rows  of  military  precision, — instead  of  this, 
what  a  scene  of  confusion  we  were,  in  spite  of 
the  matron's  frequent  "  Be  quiet,  0  girls !  wait 
a  little." 

By  six  o'clock  in  the  morning  a  number  of 
the  scholars  were  rushing  up-  and  down-stairs, 
and  I  believe  at  a  still  earlier  hour  some  had 
been  sitting  on  the  door-sill,  clamouring  to  set 
out  for  the  garden,  and  assuring  us  that  it 
was  quite  time,  "for  it  was  daylight!" 

However,  could  our  friends  have  seen  the 
same  set  when  freshly  caught  a  few  months 
before,  they  would  have  thought  that,  under 
the  circumstances,  the  progress  was  very  fair. 
If  they  were  obstreperous,  poor  little  things ! 


A  SCHOOL-TREAT  IN  CAIRO. 


155 


they  would  come  when  called,  and  do  what 
they  were  told,  and  were  eagerly  expecting 
an  excursion  with  their  Christian  teachers, — 
though  so  timid  and  unused  to  stir  from 
home  are  Eastern  girls  that  a  little  while  ago 
they  would  not  have  ventured  the  length  of 
the  street  with  us,  nor  would  the  mothers 
have  allowed  them  to  go:  so  that  the  very 
tumult  of  joy  implied  a  change  for  the  better, 
as  showing  the  confidence  gained. 

While  we  hastily  drank  our  coffee,  the  sound 
of  joyous  young  voices  was  heard  on  the  stairs, 
and,  when  we  descended,  some  were  squat- 
ting on  the  steps  at  the  door,  and  others 
dancing  in  the  matron's  room,  while  she  per- 
formed her  toilet.  That  excellent  woman,  not 
being  given  to  fuss  about  trifles,  bore  it  all 
with  good-humoured  placidity,  only  now  and 
then  remarking  that  she  should  lose  her  head, 
or  something  to  that  effect,  to  which  her 
scholars  replied  by  coaxing  down  her  dress 
with  their  hands,  or  patting  her  affectionately 
on  the  back ;  which,  be  it  remembered,  is  not 


156 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


a  disrespectful  action  to  a  superior  in  Egypt, 
nor  does  it  imply  the  familiarity  it  would 
among  us.  A  curious  assembly  the  young 
folks  made,  certainly :  some  had  only  a  plain 
blue  cotton  robe,  scanty  and  ragged,  others 
had  gay  print  trousers,  and  one  or  two  sported 
an  old  silk  jacket  with  tarnished  gold  em- 
broidery ;  all  had  their  heads  bound  with  ker- 
chiefs of  various  kinds,  and  a  veil  of  some 
sort  was  indispensable  even  to  the  rioorest. 
Altogether,  they  looked  as  if  their  attire  had 
been  taken  out  of  an  old-clothesman's  bag, 
or  as  if  they  had  all  obtained  access  to  a 
lady's  chest  of  drawers  and  pulled  out  old 
ragged  scarfs  and  worn-out  shawls  to  their 
heart's  content.  But,  in  spite  of  the  odd  mix- 
ture of  new  and  old  clothes,  rags  and  finery, 
there  was  a  certain  grace  which  seemed  in- 
herent in  them  all.  Every  Egyptian  girl 
knows  how  to  put  on  a  veil :  if  you  lend  her 
an  old  table-cloth,  she  will,  with  one  turn  of 
her  hand,  throw  it  round  her  in  the  most 
graceful  folds  possible,  and  wear  it  as  no 


A  SCHOOL-TREAT  IN  CAIRO.  157 

European  child  can  manage  to  do ; — even  little 
Haanem,  who  was  but  five  years  old,  would 
make  a  large  pocket-handkerchief  into  a  veil 
if  she  got  the  opportunity.  In  accordance 
with  the  known  sentiments  of  the  teachers, 
all  had  clean  faces  and  hands ;  and  these,  with 
a  merry  and  happy  expression  of  countenance, 
are  certainly  the  most  essential  adornments 
for  any  kind  of  festival.  There  was  but  one 
drawback  to  the  general  gayety,  and,  selfish 
as  children  naturally  are,  I  think  some  of 
them  felt  it;  and  this  was  the  group  of  little 
boys  who  stood  round  the  happy  party  at  the 
door,  wishing  they  could  accompany  their 
sisters,  and  looking  wistfully  at  the  prepara- 
tions for  a  treat  they  could  not  share. 

It  was  impossible,  with  deference  to  Moslim 
prejudices  and  habits,  to  mix  boys  and  girls  in 
school,  and  to  include  them  in  the  "  picnic" 
equally  so;  but  it  was  trying  to  the  little  fel- 
lows, and  we  felt  extremely  for  them.  Several, 
who  had  sisters  at  school,  had  begged  fre- 
quently to  be  admitted;  and  not  very  long 

14 


158 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


before  this,  a  little  mob  of  little  toys,  "who 
lived  in  the  lane,"  had  assailed  our  door  with 
shouts  of  "  0  teacher!  My  teacher  !  we  wish 
to  come  to  school!"  so  it  was  not  merely  the 
intended  festival  that  made  them  feel  envious 
of  their  sisters,  though  it  naturally  put  the 
climax  on  such  feelings.  At  the  last  moment, 
the  matron,  having  forgotten  something, — her 
pipe,  perhaps, — went  back  for  it,  and  happened 
to  notice  a  boy  of  ten  years  old  standing  sadly 
at  the  door,  his  great  bla^ck  eyes  looking  ear- 
nestly at  the  departing  group,  and  she  heard 
him  exclaim,  in  a  piteous  voice,  "  I  wish  I 
were  a  girl !"  "  No  one  can  fully  estimate 
this  speech,"  said  a  friend  of  our's  who  had 
spent  his  earliest  years  in  the  East,  "  who  has 
not  been  intimately  acquainted  with  the  feel- 
ings and  habits  of  those  countries."  It  was 
indeed  a  triumph  to  the  little  school  that  it 
caused  an  Egyptian  boy,  even  for  a  moment, 
to  wish  himself  a  girl !  But  it  was  a  sad  tri- 
umph just  then;  for  what  could  be  done  ?  All 
that  was  possible  was  to  assure  the  poor  boy— 


A  SCHOOL-TREAT  IN  CAIRO.  159 

which  I  did  on  our  return,  finding  him  a  till 
loitering  about- — that  the  boys  case  should  be 
made  known  to  our  countrymen,  and  that 
perhaps  some  of  them,  who  loved  poor  boys 
and  made  schools  for  them  in  England,  would 
spare  something  for  poor  boys  in  Egypt. 

Metawaly  (for  that  was  his  name)  was  son 
to  the  man  who  kept  a  fruit  and  cucumber 
shop  underneath  the  school,  and,  being  so 
near  a  neighbour,  he  would  often  steal  up- 
stairs to  see  what  the  girls  were  about,  and 
beg  to  be  taken  in,  that  he  might  learn  also ; 
and  it  was  grievous  to  have  to  refuse  so  will- 
ing a  pupil. 

But  to  return  to  our  festival:  at  seven 
o'clock  the  children,  with  the  matron,  were 
sent  on  in  an  advance  guard,  and  we  followed 
shortly  after,  a  donkey  being  laden  with  car- 
pets, and  the  servant  carrying  a  basket  with 
the  eatables.  These  consisted  of  cakes  fla- 
voured with  saffron,  and  a  large  parcel  of  na- 
tive sweetmeats.  The  most  favourite  sort  was 
a  cake  made  of  native  treacle  and  beaten  egg, 


ICQ  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 

with  grains  of  sesame  strewn  over  it.  Coffee, 
in  the  Eastern  style,  was  to  be  added  to  these 
dainties.  It  was  extremely  hot,  even  at  this 
hour;  but  the  Khamseen  was  not  blowing:  the 
heat  was  not,  therefore,  oppressive. 

The  owner  of  a  garden  to  which  we  had  on 
a  previous  occasion  taken  the  children  would 
not  let  us  in  now,  as  his  crops  were  in  a  state 
to  be  easily  injured,  and  he  did  not  know, 
poor  man!  that  the  girls  were  now  trained 
sufficiently  to  be  trusted  not  to  do  mischief, 
— which  really  was  the  case. 

We  were,  therefore,  obliged  to  choose  a 
quite  retired  spot  in  a  great  public  garden, 
which  might  be  made  beautiful  if  properly 
cultivated;  but  even  in  its  rude  condition  it 
was  quite  a  paradise  to  these  children.  At  so 
early  an  hour  there  was  little  fear  of  inter- 
ruption for  us,  and  the  spot  selected,  under 
an  immense  sycamore  fig-tree  and  surrounded 
by  hedges  of  myrtle  and  pomegranates,  was 
quite  removed  from  the  road.  It  is  a  custom, 
though  whether  a  legal  one  or  not  I  do  not 


A  SCHOOL-TREAT  IN  CAIRO. 


161 


know,  for  every  one  to  pick  what  flowers  he 
can  find  in  this  garden.  The  boys,  however, 
are  beforehand  with  them,  in  general,  and  pick 
every  rose-bud  for  the  coffee-houses:  still,  a 
few  were  discovered  among  the  hedges,  and 
plenty  of  -  yellow  acacia-blossoms,  and  a  few 
scarlet  pomegranate-flowers.  Each  little  girl 
had  soon  the  happiness  of  having  a  flower 
stuck  upon  her  head. 

The  clapping  of  hands  and  chattering  were 
considerable  as  the  simple  preparations  were 
made.  A  red  Arab  blanket  had  been  spread 
on  the  ground  for  them  to  sit  on,  and  cakes 
and  coffee  were  served;  while  the  matron  sat, 
calmly  smoking  her  pipe,  on  her  own  carpet, 
close  by. 

One  or  two  peasants  passed,  but  took  no 
other  notice  of  us  than  giving  a  good-hu- 
moured smile.  It  was  too  early  in  the  day,  as 
before  remarked,  to  be  at  all  public.  A  soli- 
tary Italian,  however,  chanced  to  be  taking 
a  morning  walk,  and  was  much  surprised  at 
coming  suddenly  upon  our  party.    He  seemed 

L  14* 


162  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


to  be  a  respectable  tradesman,  and  was  as 
much  interested  as  astonished  at  the  novel 
sight.  He  politely  inquired  who  these  children 
were,  and  what  had  brought  them  here. 
When  he  heard  that  it  was  a  school,  and  that 
most  of  the  pupils  were  Moslims,  he  expressed 
much  surprise,  and  said  he  knew  the  French 
nuns  had  a  school,  but  he  believed  the  pupils 
were  all  Copts. 

"  We  have  both,"  I  replied;  "but  this  school 
is  very  different  from  the  one  you  speak  of. 
Those  ladies  do  not  teach  God's  word.  Here, 
it  is  the  only  book  the  children  read.  We  do 
not  consider  that  education  is  worth  any  thing 
unless  it  is  founded  on  the  word  of  God."  He 
quite  agreed  to  this,  and  assured  me  that  he 
had  a  little  girl  of  his  own,  whom  he  would 
not  send  to  school,  because  he  did  not  choose  to 
place  her  under  the  care  of  the  nuns.  We  had 
a  little  more  conversation,  and  he  accepted  an 
Italian  hand-bill  with  pleasure,  wishing  us  all 
success:  he  then  touched  his  hat  respectfully, 
and  bade  us  good-morning. 


A  SCHOOL- THEAT  IN  CAIRO.  163 


The  older  children  had  appeared  frightened 
during  the  interview:  so  little  used  are  they 
to  intercourse  with  the  English,  or,  indeed, 
with  any  strangers,  that  they  appeared  to 
think  this  harmless  person  a  sort  of  ogre. 
One  of  them,  clasping  me  round  the  waist  as 
soon  as  he  was  gone,  exclaimed,  "Oh,  teacher! 
were  you  not  frightened?" — just  as  she  might 
have  done  had  any  one  come  safe  out  of  an 
encounter  with  a  wild  bull. 

"  What  should  I  have  been  frightened  at?" 
said  L  "The  gentleman  was  very  good- 
natured  :  he  told  me  he  had  a  little  girl  of  your 
age,  and  wished  peace  to  you  all." 

"Oh,  but  he  was  a  Frank!  I  was  so  fright- 
ened for  you, — very  much  frightened  !" 

When  the  feast  was  over,  the  younger  ones 
danced  in  a  circle,  waving  little  boughs  in  a 
perfect  ecstasy  of  merriment;  and  very  pic- 
turesque they  looked  at  a  distance,  with  their 
floating  veils  of  blue,  white,  or  red:  the  rags 
did  not  make  any  show  at  a  hundred  yards  off, 
and  the  group  was  so  joyous  and  graceful) 


164 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


But  the  older  girls  seemed  to  find  no  pleasure 
so  great  as  following  us  about,  pointing  to  the 
flowers,  and  frequently  throwing  their  arms 
round  us,  exclaiming,  "I  love  thee!  I  love 
thee  much  !"  with  eyes  really  overflowing  with 
affection.  How  often  had  it  been  said,  "  You 
can  make  nothing  of  Moslim  girls!"  but  the 
key  of  love  is  wonderfully  powerful,  and 
equally  so  in  every  land,  in  opening  the  doors 
of  young  hearts. 

When  it  was  too  hot  for  us  to  walk  any 
more,  they  all  insisted  on  sitting  down  in  a 
circle  round  us,  and,  while  we  made  garlands 
to  amuse  them,  they  sang  a  sort  of  extempore 
song,  with  clapping  of  hands,  something  in 
the  style  of  the  Nile  boatmen,  the  chorus 
being,  "  The  teacher  has  brought  us  to  the 
garden  !  Oh,  the  garden  !  the  garden  !"  and 
so  forth. 

This  kind  of  chanting,  with  words  suited  to 
the  occasion,  appears  to  afford  great  delight 
to  all  the  natives  here,  and  is  common  to 
both  Arabs,  Nubians  and  Egyptians.    If  the 


A  SCHOOL-TREAT  IN  CAIRO. 


165 


tune  is  not  very  melodious,  the  time  is  always 
strictly  kept,  and  the  hand-clapping  is  as  re- 
gular as  a  practised  drummer's  notes.  When 
they  had  enjoyed  this  to  their  hearts'  content, 
we  told  them  to  sing  their  hymn,  "  There  is  a 
happy  land." 

One  exclaimed,  just  as  they  had  ceased  sing- 
ing, "How  pleasant  it  is  here  in  the  garden! 
is  it  not?" 

"Yes,"  I  answered;  "but,  0  Saida,  I  know 
of  a  better  place,  where  I  shall  go  one  day, — 
where  the  roses  have  no  thorns,"  I  added,  look- 
ing at  some  who  had  scratched  their  hands  in 
the  attempt  to  get  a  few  roses  from  the  thorny 
bushes. 

"  Oh,  my  teacher,  will  you  not  take  me 
with  you  there?"  said  the  child;  and  several 
little  voices  echoed,  "  Take  me!" 

It  made  an  opening  for  a  little  conversation 
about  the  land 

"  "Where  fairer  bowers  than  Eden's  bloom, 
And  never-withering  flowers." 

The  young  hearts  were  softened  by  innocent 


166  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


happiness,  and  they  listened  willingly,  and 
asked  many  questions. 

"  Oh,  my  teacher,  you  said  we  should  have 
white  robes  there,"  exclaimed  one  bright  little 
girl.    "Will  they  not  be  always  clean?" 

I  endeavoured  to  show  her  that  the  outward 
whiteness  and  purity,  so  often  mentioned  in 
"  God's  book"  as  belonging  to  the  robes  of  the 
redeemed,  were  emblems  of  the  purity  of  heart 
of  those  who  can  no  more  sin.  This  image  is 
peculiarly  pleasant  and  intelligible,  we  find,  to 
the  youngest  and  most  ignorant.  After  a  little 
more  talk,  it  was  thought  time  to  retreat,  lest 
our  shady  spot  should  be  invaded ;  and,  though 
but  ten  o'clock,  it  was  already  becoming  very 
hot :  so  the  veils  were  assumed  and  the  carpets 
packed  up,  and  the  joyous  party  returned 
home. 


THE  TAMARISK-GROVE.  167 


CHAPTER  XV. 

1MB  1AMARISK-GROVE. 

^.Y^rHEN  the  weather  became  too  hot  to 
.:-f^'*jV'  spend  afternoons  in  the  desert,  or,  in- 
deed, to  go  out  at  all,  except  in  the  early 
morning,  unless  from  absolute  necessity,  we 
used  to  make  occasional  excursions  before 
breakfast,  on  donkeys,  or  else  in  a  carriage  on 
the  road  to  a  village  near  the  site  of  old  Helio- 
polis,  with  its  famed  obelisk,  and  a  certain 
old  tree  venerated  by  all  the  Papists  and  na- 
tive Christians  as  that  under  which  the  Virgin 
reposed  in  the  "  flight  into  Egypt." 

Sometimes  we  took  our  coffee  among  the 
delicious  orange-groves, — not  exactly  under 
the  "Virgin's  tree,"  but  at  a  spot  nearer  the 
village,  and  more  agreeable,  though  less  fa- 


168 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


mous.  Here,  at  eight  o'clock  in  the  morning, 
a  freshness  was  yet  to  be  found  in  the  air, 
enhanced  by  the  little  rills  of  water  trickling 
among  the  orange-groves  around  us,  as  the 
water-works  plied  from  a  well  close  by;  and 
the  snowy  blossoms  perfumed  the  soft  morn- 
ing breeze  with  their  fragrance,  and  were  so 
abundant  that  we  gathered  handfuls  without 
the  owners  expressing  the  least  annoyance. 
But,  pleasant  as  were  these  luxuriant  gardens, 
it  was  not  possible  to  get  so  far  very  often,  on 
account  of  school,  as  it  was  desirable  to  be  at 
home  before  ten  o'clock.  So  we  sometimes 
were  content  with  a  more  humble  place, 
which,  if  not  so  rich  in  verdure  and  shade  as 
the  favoured  "City  of  the  Sun,"  was  yet  a 
very  agreeable  spot  for  an  early  breakfast  in 
hot  weather.  This  was  a  grove  of  tamarisks, 
— not  the  stunted  bushes  we  see  by  the  coast 
in  our  northern  climate,  but  tall,  graceful  trees, 
whose  feathery  foliage  made  a  light  shade  on 
the  yellow  sand.  On  one  side  were  barley- 
fields,  and  on  the  other  the  wide  desert, 


THE  TAMARISK-GROVE. 


169 


stretching  away  towards  the  red  mountain :  so 
that  it  was  just  on  the  boundary  between  cul- 
tivation and  the  wilderness. 

The  first  time  we  came  here  it  was  about 
the  second  week  in  April,  and  the  harvest  was 
in  full  operation  and  made  a  very  picturesque 
sight :  it  was  between  seven  and  eight  in  the 
morning,  and  already  the  reapers  had  almost 
finished  their  work ;  the  camels  were  tied  to 
the  neighbouring  trees  in  readiness  to  carry 
off  the  load;  and  while  we  sat  drinking  our 
coffee,  in  a  shady  spot,  we  had  the  amusement 
of  seeing  the  whole  process, — the  patient  ani- 
mals laden  with  immense  piles  of  grain  (no 
need  here  to  leave  it  to  dry  in  shocks),  the 
women  carrying  smaller  bundles  on  their 
heads,  and  the  gleaners  then  hastening  to 
gather  up  the  stray  ears  that  remained. 

About  a  week  later,  on  coming  to  the  same 
place  with  a  friend,  we  found  the  scene  quite 
changed :  the  reapers  and  gleaners  had  been 
succeeded  by  a  large  flock  of  sheep  and  goats, 
which  were  browsing  on  the  leaves  of  the 

15 


170 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


thorny  acacia,  and  picking  up  a  few  scattered 
ears  which  had  even  escaped  the  gleaner's  eye : 
a  little  scanty  grass  grew  here  and  there 
among  the  stubble,  and  was  eagerly  sought, 
for  by  the  great  shaggy  sheep.  The  older 
ones  really  resembled  animated  door-mats, 
and  were  very  ugly ;  but  the  lambs,  with  jet- 
black  head  and  throat  and  snow-white  fleece, 
were  pretty  creatures.  The  goats  were  of  two 
descriptions;  one  with  long  hair  and  hanging 
ears,  which  is  graceful  enough;  the  other, 
which  is  the  commonest  in  the  neighbourhood 
of  Cairo,  with  short,  smooth  hair,  of  a  fawn- 
colour,  spotted  with  white,  and  a  hooked  nose 
and  no  horns.  This  last  is  not  at  all  pretty; 
but  the  general  effect  of  the  mixed  flock  dis- 
persed over  the  stubble-fields  was  pleasing, 
and  our  friend's  children  were,  of  course,  in 
raptures  with  the  lambs  and  kids,  as  chil- 
dren always  are ;  but  the  sulky-looking  shep- 
herd who  had  charge  of  them  was  by  no 
means  pleased  at  our  admiration.  It  seems 
that  he  feared  the  evil  eye  when  he  saw  us 


THE  TAMARISK-GROVE.  171 


gazing  with  pleasure  at  his  flock,  admiration 
being  supposed  to  imply  coveting,  and  coveting 
to  give  the  evil  eye.  What  a  base  corner  of 
the  human  heart  such  a  superstition  reveals  ! 
So  the  shepherd  actually  called  his  sheep  and 
goats  away  to  a  more  distant  field,  where  we 
could  see  but  "  the  uttermost  part  of  them,  and 
could  not  see  them  all." 

Presently,  a  young  girl  who  was  strolling 
about,  apparently  without  any  thing  to  do,  her 
morning  labours  being  over,  as  it  was  now 
eight  o'clock  or  more,  came  up  to  our  party 
and  saluted  us  good-humouredly,  looking  cu- 
rious enough  to  see  such  unaccustomed  visitors 

in  her  quiet  grove.    Our  friend  Mrs.  E  

invited  her  to  sit  down  beside  us,  and  entered 
into  conversation  with  her.  She  was  an  inte- 
resting-looking creature,  though  her  features 
were  not  particularly  handsome, — except  her 
eyes,  which  were  full  of  intelligence,  and  of  a 
sort  of  olive-colour,  which  I  never  before  saw 
in  an  Egyptian  girl,  black  being  the  universal 
hue.    Her  complexion  was  darkened  by  ex- 


172  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


posure  to  the  sun  to  a  much  deeper  brown 
than  that  of  the  inhabitants  of  the  city,  and 
made  her  white  teeth  look  more  brilliantly 
white  by  contrast.  She  might  have  been  eigh- 
teen or  more,  to  judge  by  her  looks,  but  was, 
no  doubt,  at  least  three  years  younger.  In 
the  country  the  girls  do  not  appear  to  be  so 
early  married  as  in  the  towns;  for  Zeynab  (so 
she  told  us  she  was  named)  was  unmarried 

still.   Mrs.  E  read  her  a  few  passages  out 

of  her  Arabic  Testament;  but  so  utterly 
fallow  was  the  girl's  mind,  not  only  ignorant 
of  every  thing  beyond  the  narrow  round  of 
material  concerns  in  which  she  had  been 
reared,  but  unused  to  think  at  all,  that  she 
found  it  better  to  talk  than  to  read.  The  girl 
became  interested:  she  had  intelligence,  and 
she  listened  and  asked  questions,  and  had,  evi- 
dently, no  desire  to  go  away.  When  the  chil- 
dren could  no  longer  be  kept  from  demanding 
their  mother's  attention,  and  she  was  obliged 
to  leave  her  new  pupil,  instead  of  taking  her 
departure,  Zeynab  came  to  sit  beside  me  and 


0 


THE  TAMARISK-GROVE.  173 

ask  what  I  was  doing.  I  was  drawing.  A 
picture  of  any  kind  was,  of  course,  a  complete 
novelty  to  her;  but  on  being  shown  the  trees, 
&c,  and  then  told  that  these  marks  and  colours 
were  to  represent  them,  she  understood  the 
object  very  readily,  and  watched  the  process 
with  great  satisfaction.  I  then  called  her 
attention  to  the  beauty  of  the  trees,  and  talked 
about  gardens  (every  Egyptian  delights  in  a 
garden  beyond  any  thing  else),  and  then  re- 
lated to  her  the  story  of  the  garden  of  Eden, 
and  of  Adam  and  Eve.  When  we  came  to  the 
sentence  of  death,  I  asked  where  she  thought 
she  would  go  after  she  died.  She  opened  her 
bright  eyes  very  wide,  and  then,  drooping  the 
long  black  eyelashes  over  them  and  raising 
her  hands  with  a  gesture  between  uneasiness 
and  indifference,  replied,  "  Marafsheh !"  (the 
common  Egyptian  contraction  of  the  words 
meaning,  "  I  do  not  know,"  or,  "I  know  no- 
thing of  it.") 

"You  have  a  soul,  Zeynab:  it  is  not  only 

15* 


174  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 

men  who  have  souls;  every  child,  every  girl, 
has  a  soul." 

"Yes,  lady;  I  know  it." 

"  Have  you  not  heard  that  every  soul  must 
go  either  to  heaven  or  to  hell?  Have  you  not 
heard  of  heaven  and  hell?" 

"Yes:  I  know,"  she  said,  again. 

"Well,  when  this  is  all  become  dust,"  (touch- 
ing her  arm,)  "where  do  you  think  your  soul 
will  go?" 

"  Marafsheh,"  she  repeated,  very  sadly,  hang- 
ing down  her  head. 

I  then  endeavoured  to  repeat  what  Mrs. 

R          had  been  telling  her  of  the  plan  of 

salvation ;  for,  to  a  mind  which  has  never  been 
exercised  on  any  unseen  object  and  has  always 
lived  only  for  what  is  positively  tangible,  fre- 
quent repetition  must  be  necessary  before  a 
totally  new  set  of  ideas  can  make  any  perma- 
nent impression. 

Poor  Zeynab  had  no  want  of  intelligence  by 
nature,  and  there  was  a  curious,  wistful  expres- 
sion in  her  face  as  she  said,  "Yes,  the  lady 


THE  TAMARISK-GROVE. 


175 


told  me;  the  lady  said  that.  Oh,  she  is  very- 
good,  that  lady, — very  nice!  She  told  me 
much!" 

"You  Mohammedans  are  always  afraid  of 
death :  is  it  not  so?" 

"Oh,  yes,  greatly  afraid!"  she  echoed,  shud- 
dering, and  contracting  her  features  with 
terror  at  the  very  word.  "And  you  are  not 
afraid,  nor  that  lady?" 

"  Those  who  trust  in  the  Messiah,  whom  she 
told  you  of,  need  not  fear  death,  because  they 
will  be  very  happy  in  heaven:  it  is  good  up 
there, — much  better  than  here." 

Zeynab  remained  silent  for  some  minutes, 
with  a  puzzled,  half-dreamy  look  in  her  eyes. 
Heaven  was  such  a  vague,  unmeaning  word 
to  her  ! — how  was  it  good  ? — what  was  it,  to 
be  so  desirable?  She  could  not  take  it  in. 
Presently  she  noticed  a  ring  I  wore,  and,  with 
childish  versatility,  began  expressing  her  de- 
light and  admiration.  "  I  wish  I  had  a  ring 
like  that !  but  I  have  none,"  she  exclaimed. 

"  Well,  Zeynab,  in  the  place  we  were  speak- 


176  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


ing  of  they  will  wear  golden  crowns  on  their 
heads." 

"What!"  she  cried,  eagerly,  as  if  she  now 
caught  a  notion  that  she  could  comprehend, 
"what!  gold  like  that?" 

"  Far  more  beautiful :  and  they  wear  robes 
of  white." 

11  All  white  ?"  she  asked,  taking  hold  of  her 
dirty  blue  cotton  veil  with  rather  a  con- 
temptuous air. 

"  Yes,  white  and  clean  and  bright  and  beau- 
tiful, because  their  hearts  are  clean." 

Her  interest  was  now  again  fixed :  instead 
of  a  vague,  unreal,  incomprehensible  thing, 
she  had  a  notion  of  some  place  which  she 
could  in  a  faint  degree  conceive ;  the  outward 
glory,  which  was  all  the  childish  mind  could 
yet  seize  hold  of,  was  brought  before  her,  and 
she  was  willing  to  converse  about  the  love  of 
God  in  providing  a  place  of  happiness  for  his 
children  and  to  hear  more  of  "  Him  the  lady 
had  talked  about." 

,  Mrs.  R          now  rejoined  us,  and  taught 


THE  TAMARISK-GROVE. 


177 


the  girl  a  short  prayer,  which  she  made  her 
repeat  several  times,  and  which  she  promised 
to  say  every  day.  She  parted  from  us  with 
regret,  and  begged  we  would  come  again. 
Circumstances  unfortunately  prevented  this  for 
a  long  time;  the  hot  winds  had  set  in,  and 
were  so  exhausting  that  it  was  impossible  to 
do  more  than  drag  through  the  daily  business 
of  each  day.  One  hindrance  after  another  came, 
and  when  we  did  drive  in  that  direction  no 
Zeynab  appeared,  though  we  looked  anxiously 
for  her.  At  length,  a  very  short  time  before 
our  departure,  we  again  made  an  expedition 
to  the  tamarisk-grove.  It  was  too  hot  now 
to  stay  as  late  as  we  had  done  three  weeks  or 
a  month  before,  and  I  feared  that  the  poor 
girl  was  quite  lost  to  us,  not  a  creature  being 
visible  but  an  old  woman  with  a  very  for- 
bidding countenance,  who  was  washing  clothes 
at  one  of  the  trenches.  But,  while  engaged 
in  putting  away  the  drawing-materials,  in 
order  to  return  home,  I  suddenly  heard  a 
voice  speaking  in  joyful  tones  of  greeting, 

M 


178 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


and,  on  looking  round,  Zeynab  appeared,  her 
bright  eyes  sparkling  like  two  precious  stones 
in  her  sunburnt  face,  as  they  peered  out  from 
the  folds  of  her  ragged  veil.  After  a  good 
deal  of  hand-kissing,  and  many  expressions 
of  welcome,  she  explained  that  she  had  been 
wishing  much  to  see  us  again,  and  ex- 
pressed great  sorrow  that  "  that  lady"  was 
not  of  the  party  to-day,  and  to  hear  that 
she  had  been  ill.  She  said,  "  Every  time  I 
heard  a  carriage  drive  on  that  road,  I  ran 
to  see ;  but  no,  always  no ;  you  were  not 
there !"  I  asked  if  she  remembered  the  little 
prayer.  She  said  she  had  repeated  it  at 
first,  but  now  had  forgotten  the  words.  I 
told  them,  and  made  her  repeat  them  several 
times,  shortening  even  that  short  sentence  to 
suit  her  memory  unused  to  learn.  We  had  a 
little  talk,  and  she  seemed  much  interested 
and  pleased. 

In  honour  to  an  Egyptian  girl,  it  should  be 
told  that  neither  on  this  nor  on  our  first  inter- 
view did  Zeynab  seem  to  have  any  idea  of 


THE  TAMARISK-GROVE. 


179 


getting  money  from  the  strangers,  although 
evidently  poor,  and,  in  general,  the  village 
children  and  girls  are  all  clamorous  for  money 
as  soon  as  they  see  a  European.  I  gave  her, 
however,  a  piece  of  money  at  parting,  saying  I 
was  going  away,  and  wished,  as  I  might  never 
see  her  again,  to  give  her  a  present.  She  drew 
back  at  first,  and  when  she  accepted  it  she 
said,  in  a  deprecating  manner,  "  I  did  not  ask." 
This  looked  as  if  there  was  a  good  natural 
disposition  in  the  poor  girl. 

She  was  recommended  to  our  good  matron, 
who  we  hoped  might  find  her  out  and  talk  to 
her  again ;  but  illness,  the  increasing  business 
of  the  school,  and  a  variety  of  other  circum- 
stances combined,  with  the  absence  of  both 
our  friend  and  ourselves  from  Cairo,  to  pre- 
vent the  tracing  of  poor  Zeynab ;  and  we  know 
nothing  more  of  her. 

But  there  is  One  who  does  know,  and  whose 
eyes  are  in  every  place.  The  eye  that  never 
slumbers  has  been  watching  the  young  Egyp- 
tian on  the  borders  of  the  desert,  as  surely  as 


180  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 

if  she  were  known  to  hundreds  of  her  fellow- 
creatures.  We  cannot  but  hope  that  in  some 
way  she  may  yet  be  taught  by  his  Holy  Spirit, 
and  learn  to  tremble  no  more  when  the  name 
of  death  is  mentioned. 


MOTHERS    MEETING  IN  CAIRO.  181 


CHAPTER  XVI. 

MOTHERS'  MEETING  IN  CAIRO. 

0  unite  a  few  poor  women  in  a  Chris- 
tian's house  in  the  great  Moslim  city  is 
a  more  important  thing  than  might  at  first  be 
supposed,  and  a  far  more  difficult  one  than 
any  one  can  imagine  who  has  not  closely 
studied  Eastern  customs  or  resided  among 
Eastern  women. 

A  few  months  before,  it  had  seemed  as  far 
off  as  a  castle  in  the  air;  but  " straw  upon 
straw  the  nest  is  built;"  and,  little  by  little, 
love  and  patience,  aided  by  the  grace  of  God, 
can  soften  prejudice,  and  make  a  little  open- 
ing for  the  light  where  all  was  "  confusion  of 
darkness." 

The  means  of  reaching  the  poor  women  in 


182 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  J1GYPT. 


this  place  were,  indeed,  few  and  weak,  compared 
to  the  machinery  attainable  in  our  cities  at 
home,  where  we  have  a  common  language  in 
which  to  converse,  and  where  even  the  lowest 
have  usually  some  idea,  however  imperfect,  of 
what  is  meant  by  education  and  religion, 
though  possessing  never  so  little  themselves. 
Here,  among  the  Moslim  women,  it  is  like 
working  on  ground  so  long  hardened  by  the 
sun  as  to  resemble  actual  stone,  and  only  after 
repeated  efforts,  the  pickaxe  having  produced 
some  little  effect,  it  is  shown  to  be  clay,  after  all. 

The  habits  and  customs,  so  opposed  to  im- 
provement, and  the  utter  neglect  from  gene- 
ration to  generation,  have  produced  a  hardened 
insensibility  towards  any  thing  like  change, 
and  an  aversion  to  mental  effort  of  any  kind, 
that  makes  it  hard  work  at  first;  but,  in 
time,  repeated  efforts  and  a  judicious  use 
of  opportunities  begin  to  tell ;  and  then, 
when  the  outer  surface  is  penetrated,  the 
nature  is  found  to  be  much  the  same  in  all 
essentials,  whether  the  skin  be  white  or  brown. 


mothers'  MEETING  IN  CAIRO.  183 

And  if  there  are  greater  difficulties  in  dealing 
with  Moslim  women  than  men,  on  account  of 
their  childishness  and  frivolity,  there  is  one 
advantage,  on  the  other  hand,  and  that  no 
small  one :  it  is  that  an  amount  of  Arabic 
which  would  be  of  little  use  among  those 
capable  of  argument  and  reasoning  will  really 
go  a  good  way  with  those  whose  ideas  are  so 
circumscribed  that  they  must  be  dealt  with  as 
mere  children.  When  we  consider  that  they 
generally  maiTy  at  twelve  years  old,  we  cannot 
wonder  that  they  are  always  children. 

It  is  impossible  to  dwell  among  these  poor 
creatures,  to  watch  their  daily  monotonous 
round  of  toil,  their  slovenly  dress,  the  filth 
and  discomfort  of  their  homes,  their  frequent 
quarrels  and  vacant  mirth,  to  see  the  wretched 
mismanagement  of  their  little  ones,  and  the 
degraded  position  they  occupy  with  regard  to 
the  other  sex,  without  wishing  to  raise  them 
from  a  condition  so  little  better  than  that  of  the 
beasts  of  burden.  But  it  is  when  they  are  in 
affliction,  when  sorrow  and  bereavement  call 


184 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


forth  feelings  of  a  deeper  nature,  then  it  is 
that  a  Christian's  heart  is  stirred  within  him. 

It  happened  on  the  first  night  of  our  set- 
tling in  Bab-el-Bahar  that  "  about  midnight" 
there  was  a  " great  cry;"  for  in  a  neighbouring 
house  one  was  j ust  dead.  No  one  who  has  heard 
that  sudden  cry  breaking  the  deep  stillness  of 
night  can  ever  forget  its  thrilling  effect.  Then 
came  the  piteous  wailing  that  seemed  to  speak 
of  sorrow  without  hope :  the  mother  of  the 
family  was  taken,  and  the  children's  shrieks 
and  sobs  mingled  with  the  plaintive  cry  of, 
"  Oh,  Aneeseh  !  Aneeseh  !"  from  the  sisters 
or  friends  who  vainly  called  on  her  who  could 
no  longer  answer  them, — who  had  no  longer  a 
name  on  earth.  " Where  is  she?"  was  the 
terrible  thought — too  terrible  to  dwell  on,  yet 
impossible  to  chase  away — that  forced  itself 
into  the  mind  of  the  Christian  stranger  who 
lay  sadly  listening  to  those  sounds  of  woe  and 
remembering  the  deep  joy  that  mingles  with 
the  anguish  of  those  who  know  that  their  be- 
loved ones  are  forever  with  Lord.    All  that 


mothers'  meeting  nr  caieo.  165 

could  be  answered  to  that  awful  question  was, 
in  the  words  of  inspiration,  he  that  knew  not  his 
Lord's  will,  and  did  things  worthy  of  stripes, 
shall  be  beaten  with  few  stripes.  Next  morn- 
ing the  mournful  procession  was  seen  leaving 
the  door  of  a  nearly  opposite  house;  for  in 
Egypt,  as  in  all  warm  countries,  funerals  take 
place  the  day  after  decease  at  latest.  There 
was  the  bier  covered  with  a  shawl,  and  the 
head-dress  of  the  poor  woman  fixed  upon  it. 
As  is  usual,  the  hired  mourning-women  mixed 
with  the  friends  and  family;  nor  was  it  pos- 
sible to  distinguish  them  in  this  class  of  life, 
all  being  clad  in  the  same  dark-blue  veils,  and 
all  wringing  their  hands  with  the  same  shrill, 
wailing  cry;  but  of  this  we  were  unhappily 
but  too  sure,  that  in  all  the  sad  group  not  one 
had  any  real  comfort,  not  one  could  call  on 
the  Almighty  in  the  name  of  Him  who  wept 
at  the  grave  of  Lazarus,  and  ask  for  help  and 
consolation  for  His  sake  who  is  the  resurrec- 
tion and  the  life,  not  one  could  say  of  the 
departed,  "She  is  gone  to  Jesus!"   Alas!  she 


186 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


never  knew  him!  It  is  not  useless  pain  to 
think  of  such  a  scene  as  this,  if  it  stimulates 
us  to  fresh  zeal  in  the  cause  of  Christ. 
Through  His  mercy  who  does  not  disdain  to 
use  the  feeblest  instrumentality,  there  were 
(when  the  day  of  our  leaving  Cairo  came, 
nearly  seven  months  after  this)  a  few,  at  least, 
who  had  heard  the  name  of  the  Redeemer, 
and  who  knew  that  there  was  a  holy  book 
which  told  God's  will  to  man, — a  few  who  had 
some  ideas  beyond  the  dust  in  which  they  had 
grovelled  60  long, — and  many  who  had  learned 
to  love  instead  of  hating  Christians,  and  had 
eaten  their  bread  and  salt,  and  wept  bitterly 
at  their  departure. 

It  was,  indeed,  but  a  faint  dawn-streak  in 
that  dark  neighbourhood,  and  difficulties  have 
multiplied  and  hindrances  thickened  since  that 
day,  so  that  it '  remains  "  the  day  of  small 
things"  still;  but  surely  in  due  time  we  shall 
see  the  light  brightening  and  spreading. 

On  a  burning  day  in  May  did  the  first 
mothers'  meeting  in  Cairo  take  place :  to  be 


mothers'  meeting  in  caieo.  187 


sure,  the  worst  part  of  the  heat  was  over,  as 
we  did  not  assemble  till  just  before  sunset;  but 
an  oppressive  hot  wind  was  still  blowing  when 
the  guests  began  to  arrive.  The  school-room 
had  been  swept  neatly,  and  decorated  with 
tamarisk-boughs  and  a  few  flowers,  and  a  cloth 
was  spread  in  the  centre  upon  the  mat,  on 
which  stood  two  large  bowls  of  water  and  a 
quantity  of  native  bread.  The  native  Egyp- 
tian bread  is  a  sort  of  flap,  pliant  and  moist, 
like  a  cold  pancake :  it  is  always  round  and 
of  a  dusky  colour,  and,  in  fact,  resembles  the 
flat  stones  often  found  in  the  bed  of  rivers  or 
in  the  desert.  At  a  distance,  a  pile  of  bread 
might  be  taken  for  a  pile  of  stones,  and  makes 
one  think  of  the  beautiful  expression  of  Scrip- 
ture, "  If  a  son  shall  ask  bread  of  one  of  you 
that  is  a  father,  will  he  give  him  a  stone  ?" 
Will  he  give  the  mockery  of  a  good  thing,  in- 
stead of  its  reality  ?  How  much  more  will  our 
heavenly  Father  give  us,  truly  and  literally, 
all  that  he  has  promised  to  them  that  ask 
him  ? 


188  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


Our  poor  little  scholars  would  glacLy  have 
come  to  join  this  festival,  but  the  room  would 
not  admit  it,  nor  would  their  noisy  presence 
have  been  at  all  desirable;  but  many  stood 
peeping  to  see  their  mothers  enter.  About 
fourteen  mothers  and  aunts  and  grandmothers 
came  to  the  meeting.  It  could  not  be  con- 
ducted as  a  "  tea"  for  mothers  at  home  is;  for 
the  guests  would  not  have  touched  the  feast 
unless  the  hostess  sat  down  and  ate  with  them. 
Several  were  of  the  poorest  class ;  a  few  were 
of  a  higher  grade,  as  their  dress  showed :  all 
met  on  equal  and  friendly  terms, — though  the 
contrast  was  rather  strange,  certainly.  One  or 
two  were  clad  in  silk  jackets  and  covered  with 
silver  and  coral,  others  in  print  trousers ;  but 
the  majority  wore  the  ordinary  dark-blue 
cotton,  trailing  yet  scanty  garments.  A  Copt, 
the  mother  of  the  pretty  Hynehna,  came  in 
a  dazzling  jonquil-coloured  vest  with  long, 
narrow  skirts,  a  head-kerchief  of  the  same, 
and  a  quantity  of  gold  coins  round  her  thin, 
brown  throat.    Her  bigoted,  narrow  mind 


mothers'  MEETING  IN  CAIRO.  189 

peeped  out  in  the  critical  way  in  which  she 
scanned  her  poor  neighbours  in  their  coarse 
veils,  though  she  saluted  them  civilly  enough. 

Hasna,  the  maker  of  fuel;  who  lived  next 
door  to  us,  was  of  the  party,  though  not  a 
"  mother  of  any  scholar."  Shoh  and  Fatmeh 
were  at  once  guests  and  waiters,  the  company 
not  liking  the  attendance  of  our  man-servant, 
of  course,  as  they  had  all  laid  their  face-veils 

aside.    Our  friend  Mrs.  R          came  to  join 

the  circle ;  and,  when  all  had  taken  their  places 
on  the  mat  round  the  cloth,  the  dishes  were 
brought  from  the  kitchen.  They  consisted  of 
native  messes,  as  palatable  to  the  good  women 
there  as  tea,  cake  and  bread-and-butter  are 
to  us:  gourds  stuffed  with  rice  and  a  little 
meat;  stewed  tomatoes  and  egg-plants;  cab- 
bage-leaves filled  with  rice  and  onions  and 
meat  and  rolled  up  in  balls;  and  piles  of  rice 
boiled  with  semn,  or  clarified  butter,  of  a 
rather  strong  flavour.  This  sounds  more  ela- 
borate than  our  feasts  do;  but  the  expense 
was  really  very  trifling,  and  the  trouble  and 


190  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


time  of  preparation  only  gave  pleasure;  for 
two  of  the  younger  women  had  volunteered 
to  assist  the  cook,  and  had,  apparently,  spent  a 
happy  day  in  chopping  and  peeling  and  scoop- 
ing, in  spite  of  the  great  heat !  Grace  was 
said  by  our  matron, — probably  a  novel  idea  to 
the  guests;  but  Eastern  good-breeding  always 
prevented  any  surprise  from  being  shown  at 
what  they  did  not  expect.  The  fingers  were 
soon  at  work;  but  truth  compels  me  to  say 
that,  on  the  whole,  the  manners  at  table  (if 
such  a  term  may  be  used  when  no  table  is 
present)  were  better  than  one  has  seen  where 
knives  and  forks  were  used.  Only  one  hand 
was  dipped  into  the  dish,  and  the  stuffed 
gourds,  &c.  were  easily  taken  without  much 
soiling  of  the  fingers.  Each  went  to  the  door 
where  the  apparatus  used  for  pouring  water 
on  the  hands  stood,  and  washed  after  eating. 
With  people  of  higher  condition,  a  servant 
hands  this  round,  and  pours  water  for  the 
guests. 

The  feast  occupied  altogether  a  much  shorter 


mothers'  MEETING  EN  CAIRO.  191 

time  than  feasts  of  the  kind  with  us.  The 
women  then  gathered  in  little  knots  round 
their  Christian  friends,  and  listened  and  talkec 
while  coffee  was  served  as  a  finish  to  the 
entertainment,  and  one  which  Eastern  guests 
highly  enjoy. 

The  party  was  diminished  by  degrees,  a3 
some  who  had  babies  with  them,  or  who  lived 
a  couple  of  streets  off,  which  to  their  notions 
was  "  a  distance,"  were  anxious  to  return 
early;  the  others  sat  by  our  friend  Mrs. 
R  ,  who  read  aloud  a  portion  of  Scrip- 
ture, explaining  and  commenting  in  a  manner 
suited  to  her  audience.  Some  of  the  school- 
children had  slipped  in,  profiting  by  the  dusk, 
and  now  were  permitted  to  remain  when  ren- 
dered visible  by  the  lighting  of  candles.  One 
crept  round  to  my  side,  and,  sitting  at  my  feet, 
put  her  arms  on  my  knees  with  an  entreating, 
loving  look,  that  was  quite  irresistible. 

The  Turkish  embroideress,  Sitt  Haanem, 
who  was  possessed  of  more  education  than 
any  of  the   other   mothers,  as   she  knew 


192  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


how  to  read  in  her  own  language, — though,  per- 
haps, only  imperfectly, — engaged  in  an  inte- 
resting discussion  when  the  reading  was  fin- 
ished, and  asked  many  questions  of  Mrs. 

E  ,  especially  respecting  the  divinity  of 

Christ.  The  Coptic  dame  in  the  yellow  dress 
did  not  quite  like  that  Moslims  should  get  any 
instruction,  and  would,  I  fear,  have  regretted 
their  conversion  to  Christianity,  instead  of  re- 
joicing in  it.  She  frequently  interrupted  the 
conversation  by  turning  round  and  saying, 
in  aloud  whisper,  "She  is  a  Moslim;  the  lady 
need  not  talk  to  her.  Moslims  know  nothing 
of  all  that;  they  do  not  believe  in  Christ." 

Sitt  Haanem  looked  annoyed,  but  did  not 
make  any  remark,  except  to  beg  her  friend  to 
continue  what  she  was  saying.  At  last  the 
Copt,  showing  her  arm,  on  which  a  cross, 
olive-wreath  and  other  symbols  were  tattooed 
in  blue,  said,  with  an  air  of  intense  pride  and 
self-righteousness,  "I  am  a  pilgrim;  I  have 
been  to  Jerusalem ;  see  there  I"  and  her  look 
added,  unmistakably,  "That  woman  is  not 


mothers'  MEETING  IN  CAIRO.  193 


worthy  to  be  talked  to  at  the  same  time  with 
a  holy  creature  like  me!" 

"  My  dear  woman,  God  looks  at  the  heart, 
and  not  at  the  arm,"  I  replied,  in  a  whisper, 
— which  answer,  if  it  did  not  satisfy  her, 
silenced  her  for  the  time. 

Our  little  meeting  concluded  with  a  prayer, 
in  which  our  good  matron  fervently  asked  for 
the  divine  blessing  on  those  who  had  already 
left,  and  those  who  were  present,  as  well  as 
on  the  children.  They  listened  reverently; 
and  some  murmured  assents  were  heard  during 
the  prayer,  as  if  the  hearers  joined  as  far  as 
they  could. 

The  last  batch  of  guests  departed,  as  the 
others  had  done,  with  many  expressions  of 
affection  and  regret  at  our  departure,  kissing 
our  hands  and  cheeks  again  and  again,  and 
several  shedding  tears  as  they  repeated,  "The 
Lord  preserve  thee!  The  Lord  bless  thee!" 
And  these  were  the  women  who  half  a  year  be- 
fore looked  on  all  Christians  with  dislike  and 
suspicion,  if  not  with  actual  aversion ! 

N  17 


194 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


Perhaps  some  will  say,  "Is  this  all?"  It  ia 
little,  indeed ;  but  we  must  remember  that  sow- 
ing and  reaping  do  not  follow  immediately 
upon  one  another,  except  in  very  rare  cases. 
Patient  waiting  for  the  early  and  latter  rain 
of  the  Spirit  is  usually  part  of  every  mission- 
ary attempt,  whether  at  home  or  abroad.  How 
many  years  of  waiting  have  many  Christian 
parents  endured  before  they  could  see  in  their 
own  children  any  fruits  of  a  long  and  careful 
training  in  the  truth  of  God !  And  these  poor 
Moslim  women  are  steeped  in  ignorance  and 
superstition  from  early  childhood,  and  sur- 
rounded by  bad  influences  on  every  side. 

Surely  we  must  have  great  patience  with 
them,  and  thank  God  for  even  the  smallest 
step  towards  better  things.  Even  a  wish  for 
something  beyond  the  daily  objects  of  life  is  a 
matter  of  thankfulness ;  and  this  we  have  per- 
ceived in  more  cases  than  one. 

In  a  conversation  with  Fatmeh,  the  young 
mother  who  had  lost  three  little  boys,  she 
observed  (after  listening  to  what  I  said  about 


mothers'  MEETING  IN  CAIRO.  195 

heaven),  "  Yes;  it  is  better  there  than  here;  for 
here  there  is  plenty  of  sorrow." 

Oh,  may  God  grant  that,  ere  long,  there " 
may  be  many  poor  Moslims  who  have  learned 
that  there  is  a  better  land,  where  sorrow  can- 
not enter !  They  soon  learn,  as  we  all  do,  that 
there  is  plenty  of  sorrow  on  earth;  but  let  us, 
who  have  be2n  blessed  with  the  knowledge  of 
the  gospel  of  Christ,  try  to  show  them  that  it 
wiL  indeed  be  better  there  than  here. 


19G 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


CHAPTER  XVII. 

RAGGED  SCHOOL  REOPENED. 

HOUGH  it  was  but  for  a  few  months 
that  the  little  ragged  school  in  Bab- 
el-Bahar  was  closed,  the  desolate  appearance 
of  the  room  upon  my  return  made  it  look  as 
if  it  had  been  deserted  for  a  much  longer 
period.  It  had  been  no  one's  business  to 
look  after  it  particularly,  and  the  poor  little 
school-room  was  bare  and  dirty  when  I  came 
to  take  possession  again,  in  the  month  of  No- 
vember, 1862.  No  texts  or  pictures,  as  of  old, 
hung  against  the  walls ;  nothing  but  dust  and 
a  few  torn  books  remained.  However,  it  is 
better  to  look  forward  than  to  look  back;  and, 
having  caught  a  little  well-known  child  at  the 
door,  and  despatched  her  to  look  for  the 


RAGGED  SCHOOL  REOPENED.  197 

former  scholars,  and  tell  them  "  School  was 
open,"  I  went  up-stairs  to  get  some  books  and 
pictures  which  were  stored  away  there,  and 
then  began  to  sweep  the  dusty  room  while 
awaiting  the  return  of  the  maid,  who  was 
gone  to  fetch  work-materials ;  and  the  arrival 
of  the  new  matron,  who,  like  all  Egyptians, 
was  behind  time.  She  was  merely  engaged 
to  help  in  keeping  order,  cleaning  the  school- 
room, &c,  and  instructing  the  scholars  in  plain 
sewing,  and  was  by  no  means  to  be  a  school- 
mistress, being  quite  uneducated.  No  native 
teacher  or  assistant  could  be  obtained,  though 
I  was  in  treaty  for  one :  so  that  I  was  quite 
alone.  The  prospect  did  not  look  very  bril- 
liant; but  help  comes  usually  in  one  way  or 
another  in  time  of  need.  The  first  helper 
was  a  poor  washerwoman,  who,  finding  her 
former  employer  alone  in  the  house,  expressed 
much  surprise  and  pleasure  at  the  meeting, 
and,  taking  the  broom  almost  by  force  from  her 
hands,  exclaimed,  "  Sit  down,  lady,  and  I  will 
sweep  the  room  for  you."    She  had  scarcely 


198 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EG"!:  PT. 


finished  when  little  voices  were  heard  on  the 
stairs,  and  there  was  a  rush  of  scholars,  chiefly 
old  ones,  but  accompanied  by  a  few  others 
(their  younger  sisters),  all  tumultuous  in  their 
greetings ;  twenty  pairs  of  little  henna-dyed 
hands  were  eagerly  held  out,  with  deafening 
shouts  of  "Welcome!  Welcome,  teacher!  Our 
teacher  is  come  back!  God  be  praised  !"  After 
some  time  had  been  occupied  in  salutations 
and  inquiries  and  recognitions,  the  affection- 
ate but  somewhat  unruly  little  creatures  were 
at  length  arranged  in  a  row  on  the  mat,  while 
I  said  a  few  words  to  them,  explaining  that  as 
yet  there  was  no  teacher  except  myself  (for 
the  only  matron  I  could  procure  did  not  know 
her  letters),  and  that  I  could  only  read  Arabic 
very  slowly  and  imperfectly,  but  that  I  would 
do  my  best,  and  would  study  every  evening,  so 
as  to  know  more ;  and  on  their  part  they  must 
be  good  and  obedient  and  learn  very  nicely : 
which,  of  course,  was  promised  readily  enough, 
— for  children  are  always  ready  to  promise. 
After  a  shcrt  prayer,  and  a  portion  of  the 


RAGGED  SCHOOL  REOPENED.  109 


gospel  read  and  explained,  they  were  set  down 
to  their  alphabet  and  spelling-cards ;  for  though 
some  had  been  formerly  for  several  months  at 
school,  they  had  forgotten  in  the  interval,  or 
else  had  made  little  progress,  so  that  none 
could  read  except  two, — and  they  with  great 
difficulty,  and  only  spelling  each  word  as  they 
went.  While  the  children  were  thus  engaged, 
in  burst  our  old  acquaintance,  Shoh,  with  her 
baby  in  her  arms,  and  her  old  mother  behind 
her  to  witness  the  introduction.  The  little 
creature  had  been  washed  and  "got  up"  for 
the  occasion,  as  this  was  a  formal  introduction 
(the  day  before  I  had  seen  her  with  it,  while 
passing  in  the  street,  and  had  been  most  affec- 
tionately greeted,  but  regret  to  say  I  could 
not  then  pass  judgment  on  the  infant's  charms, 
because  they  were  obscured  by  dirt) :  now  it 
really  looked  a  very  pretty  baby-girl,  about 
five  months  old,  and  I  could  answer  satisfac- 
torily to  the  young  mother's  questions  of  "  Is 
she  not  sweet — sweet  ?  Is  she  not  very  nice  ?" 
[  confess  poor  Shoh  reminded  one  strongly  of 


200  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


a  little  English  girl  with  a  new  doll, — though 
she  must  have  been  fifteen  or  sixteen  at  least 
by  this  time:  she  kept  repeating,  exactly  a* 
children  do  over  their  new  waxen  treasure 
which  grandmamma  or  auntie  has  just  brought 
from  the  toy-shop,  "  Only  see  its  eyes ! — 
look !  here  are  its  feet  1 — and  just  touch  its 
hair, — is  not  that  like  silk? — so  soft  I"  Then 
the  old  grandmother,  who  seemed  on  plea- 
santer  terms  than  formerly  with  her  daughter, 
seized  the  baby,  and  hoisted  it  up  on  high,  as 
if  in  triumph,  apostrophizing  it  in  a  very  droll 
manner,  and  saying,  "  Now,  Hosna"  (which 
was  its  name,  and  signifies  "handsome,"  or 
"what  is  approved"),  "that  is  thy  lady,  thy 
own  lady:  thou  must  love  her,  Hosna,  very 
much:  look,  sweet  one  I"  and  then,  turning 
to  me,  she  called  for  a  confirmation  of  her 
assertions  that  Hosna  was  "lovely  and  pre- 
cious." I  was  pleased  that  so  much  pride  as 
well  as  affection  should  be  poured  out  on  a  girl, 
because  the  contrary  is  sometimes  the  case  in 
the  East, — though  perhaps  more  in  theorj  thau 


RAGGED  SCHOOL  REOPENED.  201 


practice,  a»  I  constantly  observe  the  men  of 
the  lower  class  caressing  their  little  girls  with 
the  utmost  tenderness.  Many  other  poor  visit- 
ors came  in  the  course  of  this  and  the  follow- 
ing day,  all  giving  me  the  most  cordial  wel- 
come, and  some,  whose  names  I  could  not 
recollect,  appearing  to  remember  me  quite 
well. 

Keeping  a  ragged  school  is  not  a  sinecure 
in  any  country,  as  everybody  knows  who  has 
tried  it;  and  of  course  it  is  more  difficult 
where  the  language  is  imperfect,  and  where 
there  is  no  aid,  such  as  in  a  long-established 
school  can  always  be  obtained,  from  a  moni- 
tress  or  pupil-teacher  of  some  sort.  The  first 
day  or  two  it  seemed  impossible  to  keep  the 
little  voices  quiet  for  a  moment :  there  were 
no  habits  of  order  or  obedience,  and  each 
wished  to  do  what  was  good  in  her  own  eyes. 
"Teacher!  Zanuba  is  beating  me."  "Teacher! 
Sittaty  is  pinching  my  arm."  "  Oh,  teacher  ! 
Fatmeh  pushed  me  down;  pray  beat  her." 
"I  cannot  get  ?.u  alphabet;  they  have  taken 


202  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


mine  awa}\  "  Hear  my  spelling,  teacher ;  I 
can  say  it  very  nicely."  "  No,  don't  hear  her, 
teacher;  hear  mc  first."  "Look  at  Adeela, 
teacher ;  she  is  striking  my  sister :  I  will  not 
have  my  sister  struck."  "  She  tore  the  book, 
and  ought  to  be  beaten*."  "  Oh,  teacher,  do 
something  to  my  finger;  it  is  so  bad!"  Then, 
when  one  after  another  all  had  been  attended 
to,  a  fit  of  joy  succeeded  the  fit  of  quarrelling, 
and  two  or  three  would  fling  down  the  cards 
and  exclaim,  "  I  am  so  glad  you  are  come 
again!  I  love  you  much!"  "Then  show  me 
your  love  by  being  good  and  quiet,"  was  the 
reply.  "I  must  have  order."  "Yes,  yes;  or- 
der !  order  !"  echoes  a  lively,  officious  little  lass 
of  ten  or  eleven,  snatching  up  a  ruler  and  lay- 
ing about  her  vigorously,  crying,  "Order, 
order,  you  children !  Stand  in  order!"  When 
the  stick  is  taken  from  her,  and  the  little  ones, 
whom  she  has  tapped  so  violently  as  to  make 
them  cry,  are  pacified,  another  trouble  begins : 
— the  idle  ones  fancy  they  are  hungry,  and 
out  of  some  pocket  in  their  ragged  garment? 


RAGGED  SCHOOL  REOPENED.  203 

come  a  green  onion,  a  piece  of  sticky  date- 
paste,  a  pickled  turnip,  or  a  bit  of  sugarcane, 
which  have  to  be  confiscated  till  "  recess,"  and 
with  some  difficulty  the  disorderly  crew  are 
induced  to  wait  till  the  hour  of  noon  is  struck 
from  the  neighbouring  mosque. 

In  the  afternoon  (after  about  an  hour's 
rest)  the  little  flock  reassembled :  some  who 
lived  close  by  had  gone  home  to  dinner,  others 
brought  bread  with  some  little  relish,  and 
others  claimed  the  five-para  pieces  they  had 
given  me  to  keep  (about  the  value  of  half  a 
cent),  with  which  they  bought  a  morsel  of 
native  cheese  or  a  few  dates  from  a  shop  near 
the  school-house,  and  ate  them  while  seated 
in  a  circle  on  a  mat  in  the  school-room.  Some 
of  the  poorest  had  at  times  only  bread ;  but  I 
think  this  was  exceptional,  as  vegetables  and 
other  native  articles  are  so  very  cheap  that  it 
is  rare  for  any  family  not  to  be  able  to  afford 
a  scrap  of  pickle,  or  a  handful  of  raw  carrots, 
radishes,  &c,  to  accompany  the  bread.  Meat 
was,  I  believe,  hardly  ever  tasted  by  them, 


204  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


except  on  extraordinary  occasions,  and  they 
never  seemed  to  get  any  warm  food.  Possibly 
at  sunset  a  poor  family  would  sometimes  have 
lentil  soup,  as  the  boatmen  so  generally  do; 
but  during  the  short  period  of  cold  the  chil- 
dren often  came  shivering  to  school  in  the 
morning,  and  were  very  thankful  for  a  few 
spoonfuls  of  hot  milk-and-water,  or  the  re- 
mains of  their  teacher's  coffee  diluted  and 
sweetened  with  coarse  sugar.  A  degree  of  cold 
which  is  not  in  itself  intense  is  much  felt  by 
those  accustomed  to  such  heat  most  of  the 
year,  and  usually  very  scantily  clothed. 

In  the  course  of  about  six  weeks  I  was 
obliged  to  change  the  matron  for  another,  who, 
though  equally  uneducated,  was  not  so  much 
addicted  to  forsaking  her  daily  duty  in  the 
work-room,  and  who  did  not  waste  so  much 
time  over  her  long  cherry-stick  pipe.  I  can- 
not say  she  never  smoked  when  she  should 
have  been  cutting  out  needlework,  &c,  or 
never  made  a  pretext  of  going  to  church 
when  a  visit  to  her  sister's,  to  gossip  and  eat 


RAGGED  SCHOOL  REOPENED.  205 

nuts  and  almonds,  was  the  second  and  longest 
part  of  the  ceremony;  but  still  she  did  much 
better  than  her  predecessor  in  many  re- 
spects. I  arranged  afterwards  with  a  native 
embroideress  to  come  daily  and  instruct  part 
of  the  scholars  in  this  popular,  because  lucra- 
tive, employment.  They  made  a  pretty  pic- 
ture, in  spite  of  the  rags  of  so  many,  when 
seated  in  little  groups  over  the  embroidery- 
frames, — the  Coptic  girl  who  taught  them 
leaning  over  each  set  in  turn,  her  net  veil 
twisted  gracefully  across  her  shoulders,  and  a 
heap  of  bright-coloured  skeins  of  silk  beside 
her,  and  all  the  circle  looking  so  cheerful  and 
contented ;  nor  was  the  sight  less  pleasing 
from  the  contrast  of  what  had  been  the  daily 
life  of  these  poor  children  before  they  were 
gathered  within  the  walls  of  their  school. 

18 


206 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


CHAPTER  XVIII. 

VISITS  TO  THE  LANES  AND  FIELDS. 

N  a  kind  of  court,  partly  open  to  the  sky 
and  partly  roofed  over,  lived  the  mothers 
of  two  or  three  of  my  scholars;  and  into  this 
court  I  penetrated  one  day,  guided  by  one  of 
the  girls,  in  order  to  inquire  for  the  truants 
and  at  the  same  time  to  try  and  make  ac- 
quaintance with  their  families.  Several  women 
were  assembled  near  the  door  of  one  of  the 
dirty,  ruined-looking  abodes  opening  into  the 
court,  one  crouching  over  a  pot  of  charcoal 
and  sticks  burning  before  her,  apparently  des- 
tined for  some  sort  of  cookery,  and  two  others 
employed  in  making  bread,  the  dough  being 
in  a  half-liquid  state  in  a  huge  pan,  while  one 
woman  kept  adding  water  every  few  minutes 


efjflto  lift  in  eggpt. 


VISITS  TO  TEE  LANES  AKD  FIELDS.  207 

from  a  bowl  near  her ;  two  more  stood  at  the 
doorway  with  their  babies,  looking  on  and 
talking.  The  first,  J  found,  was  the  mother 
of  a  very  poor  and  ill-fed-looking  girl  who 
attended  school  but  was  very  irregular.  "Are 
you  Melaky's  mother?"  I  asked,  after  the 
usual  salutations.  "Yes."  "I  wish,  my  dear 
woman,"  I  continued,  "you  would  send  her 
every  day ;  she  would  learn  better :  she  knows 
nothing  as  yet,  because  she  never  comes  two 
days  together."  "I  am  sick,  lady,"  replied 
the  poor  creature,  sorrowfully:  "I  must  keep 
Melaky  often  to  do  things  for  me."  The  other 
woman  now  began  to  relate  that  she  had  a  bad 
leg, — indeed,  two  bad  legs,  only  one  was  the 
worst, — and,  as  is  usual  in  all  such  cases,  to 
insist  on  showing  it  to  me.  The  sufferer  ap- 
peared gratified  by  my  expressions  of  pity; 
and  though  the  alleviation  I  suggested,  of 
clean  bandages  dipped  into  clean  cold  water 
and  wrung,  seemed  to  her  a  very  singular  one, 
she  actually  promised  to  give  it  a  trial.  After 
she  had  talked  as  much  as  she  wished  about 


208  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


her  leg,  I  tried  to  draw  the  conversation  to 
something  cheering,  saying,  "  You  have  indeed 
much  to  suffer  here  on  earth :  every  one  has, 
one  time  or  another,  to  suffer ; — is  it  not  so  ? — 
if  not  in  the  leg,  it  is  in  the  arm  or  in  the 
head;  or  else  we  have  sorrow  in  the  heart." 
"  Ah!"  observed  another,  who  had  just  joined 
the  group,  "in  our  thoughts  we  have  trouble," 
nodding  significantly  as  she  spoke.  "True: 
therefore  we  should  wish  much  to  be  in  the 
beautiful  land  above,  where  no  pain  or  sorrow 
can  come,"  I  continued.  "That  is  with  the 
Lord,"  said  the  sick  woman,  with  a  half- wistful, 
half-despairing  look,  that  seemed  to  say,  "If 
it  were  not  so  vague  a  hope,  it  might  be  good 
for  something."  I  told  her  how  in  God's 
book,  called  the  Bible,  we  learned  about  that 
blessed  country,  and  how  to  reach  it  by  be- 
lieving in  God,  and  how  his  commands  were 
all  written  in  this  book  for  us.  I  added  that 
to  teach  the  children  to  read  of  these  things 
was  the  chief  reason  I  had  for  wishing  them 
to  come  to  school,  and  that,  though  sewing 


VISITS  TO  THE  LANES  AND  FIELDS.  209 

was  also  good,  it  was  far  better  to  know  God's 
commands.  These,  to  us  self-evident  truths, 
were  to  them  new  ideas.  It  is  necessary  to 
bear  in  mind,  in  dealing  with  those  poor  igno- 
rant women,  that  their  minds  are  as  unde- 
veloped as  if  they  were  children  of  five  years 
old;  and,  indeed,  most  children  younger  than 
live  years,  who  have  had  any  pains  taken  with 
them,  are  in  a  more  advanced  state  of  intellect. 
They  received  the  seeming  truism  as  something 
new  but  good,  and  all  agreed  that  it  was  true ; 
and  one  said,  "  The  children  love  you :  they 
are  glad  you  are  come  back." 

Another  asked,  "  From  what  country  do  you 
come  ?  Are  you  from  Constantinople,  or  from 
Spain?"  An  old  acquaintance  rather  tartly 
corrected  her,  saying,  "Do  you  not  know  the 
lady  is  English?"  The  little  girl  now  came 
down  a  ladder,  with  a  basket  of  rubbish  and 
straw  on  her  head,  and  seemed  pleased  to  find 
her  teacher  paying  her  poor  sick  mother  a 
visit,  and  she  promised  to  come  when  she 
could :  with  much  partial  attendance  from  the 

O  18* 


210 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


older  children  we  must  be  content,  as  they  are 
loo  useful  to  be  daily  spared,  unless  the  parents 
re  lly  desire  their  improvement. 

I  jound  that,  by  degrees,  I  could  extend  my 
visits  to  some  of  the  other  lanes  besides  Abon- 
bakr  (which  is  close  to  the  school-house). 
Provided  I  kept  to  our  own  quarter,  I  was  now 
well  enough  known  to  be  safe  even  among 
nothing  but  Moslims  and  with  no  protector 
beyond  a  young  scholar.  Except  from  littk 
children  (and  these  only  on  going  into  a  lane 
not  previously  visitec?),  I  never  was  assailed 
with  bad  language  or  angry  looks.  On  the 
contrary,  the  artisans  would  often  look  up, 
smiling  good-naturedly,  and  say,  "  There  goes 
the  teacher;"  and  one  day,  when  I  was  picking 
my  steps  over  the  stones  and  rubbish  which 
nearly  blocked  up  a  narrow  lane,  followed  by 
some  four  or  five  little,  ragged,  merry  girls,  a 
carpenter  who  was  at  work  there  called  out  to 
his  child,  saying,  "Saida,  go  directly  with  thy 
teacher!  lazy  thing!"  (for  she  was  i oiling  in 
A^e  dust  no*  far  off.)    I  told  him  I  w*»s  trying 


VISITS  TO  THE  LAKES  AND  FIELDS.  211 

to  collect  my  stray  lambs.  "  Yes,  yes,"  said 
the  man;  "you  are  the  shepherd,  and  these 
are  the  lambs."  How  this  observation  made 
one  think  of  the  great  Shepherd  of  the  sheep, 
to  whom  all  true  Christian  teachers  are  striv- 
ing to  lead  their  little  flocks ! 

One  day,  going  to  see  a  sick  woman,  I  came 
to  a  lane  a  little  way  to  the  north  of  Abon- 
bakr :  the  invalid  was  gone  out,  having  been 
less  ill  than  had  been  represented,  or  having 
amended  rapidly.  Some  women  were  sifting 
flour  in  the  yard,  their  scanty  blue  robes 
tucked  round  them  and  their  arms  bared ;  they 
were  vigorously  shaking  the  flour  in  sieves, 
which  retained  the  coarsest  part  of  the  bran, 
while  an  old  woman  sat  behind,  watching  the 
process,  and  some  others  were  engaged  in 
sewing  and  nursing  their  babies.  I  saluted 
them,  and  said  I  had  called  to  visit  Fatmeh, 
but  heard  she  was  out;  upon  which  they 
begged  me  to  sit  down  with  them ;  but  these 
courts  are  frequently  wet  in  the  winter  (in  hot 
weather  they  dry  up  quickly),  and  the  ground 


212 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


was  so  muddy  that  the  only  way  I  could 
comply  with  the  invitation  was  by  stooping 
down  as  they  do  themselves, — which  was  no 
hardship,  as  I  was  used  to  it.  But,  with  the 
politeness  which  seems  inherent  in  the  poorest 
and  lowest  among  Orientals,  one  of  them  rose 
at  once  and  fetched  an  old  box-lid,  on  which 
she  spread  a  blue  cotton  veil  and  made  a  seat 
of  it  for  her  visitor;  while  Shoh,  who  had 
accompanied  me,  observed,  rather  triumph- 
antly, "She  is  not  proud,  and  likes  the  earth!" 
Shoh  was  always  anxious  that  her  friend 
should  be  well  received,  and  seemed  really  glad 
that  others  should  be  spoken  to  on  the  sub- 
jects which  had  so  frequently  been  brought 
before  herself.  These  poor  women  asked  many 
questions  about  the  school;  and  in  the  course 
of  conversation,  as  we  were  speaking  of  prayer, 
I  began  to  repeat  the  Lord's  prayer,  and  was 
pleased  to  find  that  Shoh  knew  it.  She  had 
never  been  regularly  taught  to  say  it,  but  had 
often  come  into  school  at  prayer-time,  and, 
being  quick,  had  learned  to  repeat  it.  She 


VISITS  TO  THE  LANES  AND  FIELDS.  213 

sal,  or  rather  squatted,  beside  me,  with  her 
pretty,  black-eyed  baby  on  her  knee,  looking 
quite  pleased  while  I  repeated,  and  endea- 
voured to  explain,  a  short  Scripture  story. 
The  others  seemed  also  interested,  and  twice 
when  I  rose  to  depart  I  was  compelled  to 
remain. 

Now,  it  is  a  point  of  good  manners  in  the 
East  always  to  beg  a  visitor  to  stay  and  not 
be  in  a  hurry  to  go,  though  she  may  have 
stayed  till  her  weary  hostess  is  secretly  thank- 
ful for  her  departure.  But  among  the  poor, 
who  do  not  conceal  their  feelings, — at  least,  as 
far  as  their  expression  of  face  goes, — it  is  not 
difficult  to  see  when  they  are  really  anxious 
for  a  visitor  to  stay  or  are  merely  repeating 
formal  sentences. 

The  old  dame  who  sat  in  the  door-way  was 
very  anxious  to  know  why  any  one  should  live, 
aa  it  seemed  to  her,  so  lonely  a  life,  away  from 
one's  country  and  kindred,  and  put  some 
searching  questions  which  were  not  easy  to 
answer;  but  Shoh  did  not  leave  me  time  to 


214 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


frame  replies ;  for  she  assured  the  old  woman 
that  "her  lady"  loved  the  poor  in  Cairo,  and 
also  the  children;  "and  my  Hosna  is  her 
child,"  she  added,  pulling  my  dress  and  ap- 
pealing to  me  for  a  confirmation  of  her  asser- 
tion. "  If  you  love  the  poor,  you  will  go  to 
paradise,"  observed  one  of  the  others ;  "for 
your  heart  is  white."  "  I  hope  indeed  to  go 
there,  my  sister,"  I  replied,  "but  not  for  that 
reason;  all  our  hearts  are  sinful, — they  are 
not  white,  but,  on  the  contrary,  black,  until 
God  sends  his  Holy  Spirit  to  make  them 
clean."  I  endeavoured  to  show  her  the  neces- 
sity of  praying  for  the  Spirit,  and  showed  how 
the  school-children  were  taught  to  pray,  &c. 
One  woman  promised  to  send  her  little  daugh- 
ter (who  has  since  become  a  regular  attend- 
ant,— at  least,  she  was  one  when  I  left  Cairo) ; 
and  another  said  her  child  was  too  young, 
but  it  should  come  when  it  could  walk  and 
speak. 

When  time  permitted,  I  occasionally  made 
visits  to  the  country  villages  outside  the  city; 


VISITS  TO  THE  LANES  AND  FIELDS.  215 

and,  had  circumstances  enabled  them  to  be 
more  frequent,  I  could  have  found  plenty  of 
employment,  as  the  country-women  are  even 
more  ready  than  those  of  the  town  to  receive 
a  visitor;  for  in  their  monotonous  life  it  is 
quite  an  event.  In  winter,  the  short  days 
prevent  any  distant  rides  from  being  feasible 
by  those  whose  forenoons  are  occupied;  but 
when  spring  had  fairly  set  in,  and  the  days 
were  long  enough  to  give  plenty  of  time,  the 
country  became  truly  delightful.  The  low 
lands,  which  in  autumn  and  even  in  the  early 
part  of  the  winter  had  been  wet  and  unwhole- 
some, were  then  dry  and  healthy,  and  the 
brilliant  verdure  redeemed  the  flat  meadows 
in  a  great  degree  from  the  charge  of  tame- 
ness.  The  clumps  of  palm-trees  almost  sup- 
plied the  place  of  elevations  in  the  ground, 
and  the  exquisite  green  of  the  clover  and 
young  corn,  the  luxuriance  of  the  gardens, 
whose  orange-trees  were  laden  with  bloom 
and  scented  the  air,  made  a  country  ride,  at 
this  season,  very  agreeable.    The  barV.y  was 


216  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


in  full  ear,  and  a  shade  of  yellow  was  spread- 
ing over  some  of  the  fields,  though  the  wheat 
was  still  green,  when  I  rode  out  with  a  friend 
to  visit  a  little  hamlet  about  half  a  mile  from 
the  railway  to  Alexandria.  Like  all  Egyptian 
villages,  it  was  dirty  and  comfortless  in  the 
extreme,  and  would  have  looked  very  dreary 
if  seen  under  the  leaden  skies  so  common 
in  our  cloudy  islands;  but  the  golden  sun- 
shine and  transparent  atmosphere  of  Egypt 
have  the  effect  of  making  things  look  their 
best, — like  a  cheerful,  happy  temper  in  unto- 
ward circumstances. 

Outside  the  foremost  group  of  mud  huts  a 
party  of  women  were  sitting  and  standing, 
having,  as  is  their  custom,  finished  their 
daily  labour  early  in  the  morning,  so  as  to 
have  the  heat  of  the  day  for  rest.  A  number 
of  children,  as  dirty  as  possible  and  very 
ragged,  though  not  looking  by  any  means  ill 
fed,  were  rolling  in  the  dust, — the  poor  little 
babies  covered  with  flies  in  swarms,  which 
their  mothers  did  not  attempt  to  drive  away. 


VISITS  TO  THE  LANES  AND  FIELDS.  217 

I  was  civilly  invited  to  sit  down  and  rest,  and 
asked  if  I  came  from  the  city.  On  being  an- 
swered in  the  affirmative,  they  said  it  must 
be  hot  there,  and  that  it  was  good  to  come  out 
to  breathe  the  air.  (The  common  expression 
in  the  East  for  going  out,  either  to  walk  or 
drive,  is,  "I  wish  to  breathe  the  air.")  After 
a  little  chat,  I  produced  a  small  book,  which 
was  looked  at  with  curiosity,  and  some  asked 
if  it  was  really  Arabic,  for  they  are  very  sus- 
picious of  evil  in  European  books:  as  none  of 
the  party  could  read,  they  had  to  take  my 
word  that  it  was  in  their  own  language;  and, 
to  prove  it  the  better,  I  offered  to  read  some 
of  it  to  them.  Two  pretty,  bright-looking, 
but  saucy  young  girls,  who  were  squatted 
close  beside  me,  interrupted  me  often  by 
laughing  and  making  irreverent  observations, 
which  made  it  very  hard  to  keep  the  thread 
of  the  narrative.  (I  was  reading  one  of  the 
miracles  of  Christ.)  One  old  woman  refused 
to  hear  to  the  end,  and,  saying,  "  I  don't  un- 
derstand that  kind  of  thing,"  shrugged  up 

19 


218 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


her  shoulders  and  walked  off;  bu  *  the  rest 
stayed,  and  some  appeared  really  interested. 
The  mocking  girls  at  last  became  quieter, 
and,  when  the  story  was  finished,  allowed  me  to 
ask  questions  and  converse  a  little  with  the 
others.  Meantime,  one  went  into  a  neighbour- 
ing hut  and  fetched  a  very  large,  shallow 
earthen  pan,  which  she  proceeded  to  rinse  and 
wash  with  more  care  than  was  common  among 
her  class.  She  then  dived  into  the  low  en- 
trance and  disappeared,  but  returned  presently, 
carrying  the  pan  filled  with  milk,  and,  setting 
it  down  before  me,  said,  "Drink,  lady:  it  is 
sweet  milk"  (which  is  considered  more  of  a 
luxury  than  the  sour  milk  in  ordinary  use) ; 
"  drink  it  all :  it  is  for  you."  Of  course  I 
thanked  her  heartily  for  her  kind  hospitality; 
but  how  to  accept  it  was  a  puzzling  matter. 
The  quantity  seemed  nearly  enough  to  drown 
one,  and  the  vessel  was  so  enormously  broad 
and  shallow,  in  comparison  to  its  size,  that 
I  could  not  help  thinking  of  the  old  fable  of 
the  stork  and  the  fox :  indeed,  I  was  in  the 


"VISITS  TO  THE  LANES  AND  FIELDS.  219 

condition  of  the  bird;  for  how  to  reach  the 
milk  I  could  not  conceive.  However,  the  good 
woman  kept  urging  me  to  drink ;  and,  as  I 
knew  that  she  had  probably  no  cup  (the 
people  in  the  country  often  not  possessing  any 
crockery  except  the  porous  water-jars,  thick 
sour  milk  being  easily  taken  up  with  their 
bread  out  of  the  large  vessels),  I  did  not  wish 
to  hurt  her  feelings  by  refusing.  With  great 
difficulty,  and  at  the  imminent  risk  of  spilling 
the  whole  over  my  dress,  I  contrived  to  lift 
the  great  pan,  and  (at  least  a  dozen  pairs  of 
eyes  watching  with  amusement  to  see  how  I 
should  manage)  a  mouthful  or  two  were  swal- 
lowed, and  I  felt  like  a  successful  juggler  who 
has  performed  a  feat  satisfactorily ;  but  scarcely 
was  the  vessel  safely  replaced  on  the  ground  than 
my  kind  entertainer  exclaimed,  "  Oh,  you  must 
take  it  all ! — it  is  sweet  milk,  and  you  must 
drink  all, — all !"  I  apologized,  and  made  many 
excuses,  but  was  compelled  to  repeat  the  ope- 
ration a  second  time,  and,  I  fear,  was  thought 
scarcely  polite  for  leaving  the  half-gallon  un- 


220 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


consumed  This  was  simply  from  hospitable 
feelings  and  a  wish  to  do  honour  to  a  guest, — ■ 
not  that  Egyptians  are  accustomed  to  eat  and 
drink  very  largely  themselves :  on  the  con- 
trary, they  are  generally  very  moderate,  and 
the  peasants  especially  live  with  great  sim- 
plicity. After  a  little  more  talk,  I  took  leave 
of  my  new  acquaintance,  who  begged  me  to 
come  and  see  them  again. 


HOW  THE  SCHOOL  PROGRESSED.  221 


CHAPTER  XIX. 

HOW  THE  SCHOOL  PROGRESSED. 

(VY^HE  cold  weather  had  come,  and  was  be- 
f^KI  gmmng  to  depart  (for  January  was  well 
advanced),  without  bringing  me  the  expected 
teacher  from  Syria.  Friends  at  home,  little 
cognizant  of  the  difficulty  of  getting  any  kind 
of  suitable  assistants,  supposed,  in  every  letter, 
that  by  this  time  a  teacher  had  been  found ; 
but,  in  fact,  the  snow  of  Lebanon  itself  would 
have  been  more  easily  procured!  The  diffi- 
culty of  inducing  the  few  Protestant  Syrians 
to  leave  their  country  for  one  less  healthy  to 
most  of  them,  and  more  expensive  to  all,  is 
naturally  very  great ;  and  the  American  mis- 
sionaries, who  have  laboured  so  long  among 
them,  can  scarcely,  perhaps,  be  expected  rea- 

19* 


222 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


dily  to  part  with  the  pupils  they  have  taken 
such  pains  to  train,  especially  as  they  have 
still  more  demand  than  supply  for  their  own 
schools,  and,  moreover,  are  not,  generally,  at 
all  sanguine  about  any  work  among  Moslims. 
I  remained,  therefore,  sole  teacher,  as  well  as 
superintendent,  from  the  opening  of  school  in 
the  end  of  November  till  the  last  week  in 
January,  except  an  occasional  relief  of  a  couple 
of  hours  from  an  elderly  Syrian  lady,  who, 
though  unused  to  keeping  a  school,  and  only 
possessed  of  a  very  limited  education,  yet 
kindly  did  her  best  to  teach  a  little  reading 
and  Scripture  when  I  was  laid  by  with  a  cold 
and  needed  a  little  rest  very  much.  But 
casual  help  of  so  irregular  a  kind,  and  which 
could  never  be  reckoned  on,  made  no  great 
difference  in  the  responsibility  of  the  work; 
and  the  constant  attention  required  prevented 
the  possibility  of  visiting  among  the  mothers 
as  frequently  as  I  could  have  wished,  or  trying 
to  assemble  them  for  a  meeting. 

The  Arabian  proverb,  "  Patience  is  the  key 


HOW  THE  SCHOOL  PROGRESSED.  223 

to  glory,"  often  comes  into  one's  mind  in  the 
midst  of  the  incessant  little  disappointments 
about  promising  children,  and  all  the  small 
hindrances  and  troubles,  which  are  common  to 
all  school-teachers,  but  which,  of  course,  are 
increased  in  a  foreign  country,  where  the  lan- 
guage is  not  fully  understood  and  the  habits  and 
ways  of  the  people  are  different  from  our  own, 
Still  better,  indeed,  is  the  warning  of  Scrip- 
ture, "  In  patience  possess  ye  your  souls."  I 
select  a  few  notes,  made  at  the  time,  which 
may  interest  Sunday-school  teachers  and 
others  who  like  to  watch  the  training  of  the 
young : — 

"  Dec.  1862. — My  children  were  very  trou- 
blesome this  morning.  Scandara  was  in  one 
of  her  fickle  moods,  and  alternately  teased 
and  diverted  the  others.  She  had  got,  by 
way  of  a  veil,  a  piece  of  coarse  English  mus- 
lin, not  nearly  so  pretty  as  her  usual  one ;  but 
she  was  very  vain  of  it,  as  a  novelty,  and 
kept  simpering  and  tittering  and  pretending 
to  be  a  bride,  till  the  rest  of  the  girls  were 


224 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


unable  to  attend  to  a  word  of  their  lessons. 
When  she  was  quieted, — with  much  ado, — I 
got  them  in  order  while  I  read  the  portion  of 
Scripture ;  but  so  limited  is  the  vocabulary  of 
the  lowest  class  in  Cairo  that  it  is  necessary 
for  me  to  translate  at  least  two  words  in  every 
twenty  lines  into  equivalents,  as  far  as  my 
limited  knowledge  permits.  These  children 
do  not  seem  to  know  of  any  word  but  '  stone' 
for  rock, — though  their  rich  language  has  a 
great  many,  I  believe.  They  appear,  in  fact, 
to  make  a  few  words  do  the  part  of  a  maid-of- 
all-work,  as  the  uneducated  in  all  countries  are 
very  apt  to  do, — as,  for  example,  the  vulgar  Ita- 
lians' using  one  word  for  a  boat,  a  carriage  and 
a  box.  I  hope  soon,  however,  to  use  the  new 
edition  of  the  Gospels,  which  is  said  to  be 
much  easier  for  the  people  than  the  old. 

"  Another  difficulty  is  the  changing  attend- 
ance :  with  the  exception  of  a  few,  and  those 
chiefly  younger  ones,  most  of  the  children 
come  on  alternate  days,  or  come  two  and  then 
stay  away  one :  so  that  to  pick  up  the  threads 


HOW  THE  SCHOOL  PROGRESSED.  225 


of  each,  and  remember  where  she  is  and  what 
she  has  been  learning,  is  not  always  easy. 

"They  all  agree  in  being  affectionate, 
whether  good  or  bad  in  other  respects.  Se- 
keeneh  is,  perhaps,  an  exception,  being  such  a 
covetous,  selfish  child;  but  I  do  not  think 
there  is  another.  Seeing  my  head  tied  up 
on  account  of  a  cold,  this  morning,  they  were 
full  of  sympathy ;  and  several  said,  coaxingly, 
1  May  not  I  kiss  thee  to-day,  because  thou  hast 
pain?'  while  others  greeted  me  with  little 
pats  on  the  back  and  shoulders,  repeating, 
'  Dear  teacher  !  Never  mind,  never  mind !' 
Which  expression,  as  well  as  the  patting,  is 
used  to  denote  sympathy  and  consolation  to 
any  one  in  pain,  either  of  mind  or  body." 

"  Werdeh  has  come  again  to  school,  after  a 
few  days'  absence ;  and  I  hardly  know  whether 
to  be  glad  or  sorry.  She  is  a  great  '  lump  of 
a  girl,'  as  people  would  say  in  Ireland ;  look- 
ing about  fourteen,  but  probably  two  years 
less, — as  se'.f-willed  and  proud  as  any  grown 

woman,  and  yet  as  childish  as  a  baby.  She 
P 


226  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


cries  and  whimpers  in  the  most  ridiculous  way 
if  thwarted ;  begged  hard  one  day  for  a  small 
doll  which  I  had  given  to  a  young  child,  say- 
ing, 'Give  me  the  bride;  I  want  the  bride';  (a 
doll  is  generally  so  called  in  this  country ;)  and 
yet  she  domineers  over  the  others,  if  my  eye 
is  off  for  a  couple  of  minutes,  and  assumes  the 
airs  of  a  superior.  The  matron  hates  her,  and 
begged  me  to  forbid  her  the  school,  as  she  will 
never  learn  to  read,  seeing  she  cannot  be  kept 
quiet  five  minutes  with  the  card  in  her  hand, 
but  must  ever  be  jumping  up  to  beat  or  pinch 
some  one,  or  to  give  me  advice  as  to  the  man- 
agement of  the  school.  I  do  not  choose  to 
turn  any  one  away,  however,  and  the  poor 
girl,  with  all  her  faults,  seems  affectionate, — 
at  least  to  her  teacher.  Her  habit  of  using 
bad  language  is  the  worst  trouble,  because  I 
cannot  always  detect  it,  of  course,  and  I  am 
sometimes  grieved,  in  the  midst  of  a  lesson,  to 
hear  one  call  out, '  Teacher,  Werdeh  is  cursing 
my  mother  !  and  she  curses  so-and-so's  father!' 
It  is  not  easy  to  punish  such  a  big  pupil.  The 


HOW  THE  SCHOOL  PROGRESSED.  227 

little  ones  I  make  stand  behind  the  door  with 
face  turned  to  the  wall,  for  trifling  misde- 
meanours, and  find  it  always  a  very  efficacious 
punishment. 

"  The  other  day  we  had  a  curious  request 
from  a  poor  man, — I  suppose  a  neighbour, — 
who  came  shouting  under  the  window  for  the 
teacher,  and  when  I  looked  out  to  see  what  he 
wanted,  found  that  his  little  girl  had  been 
naughty :  how,  he  did  not  explain  to  my  com- 
prehension exactly;  but  his  desire  was  that  I 
should  bring  her  in  and  beat  her.  It  was  out 
of  school-hours.  I  told  him  that  in  school  we 
did  not  use  a  stick  for  the  girls,  but  that  they 
must  stand  with  their  face  to  the  wall  if  they 
were  naughty, — which  he  seemed  to  think  very 
droll :  however,  he  went  away  when  he  found 
I  would  not  inflict  the  beating. 

"  Several  of  the  young  ones  are  like  kittens 
for  mirth  and  spirit,  and  can  hard'v  be  kept 
out  of  mischief  for  a  minute;  but  I  would 
rather  have  them  mischievous  and  merry  than 
dull  and  stupid.    They  are  dear  little  things, 


228 


CHILD-LIFE  m  EGYPT. 


and  their  pretty  black  eyes  dance  with  glee 
when  they  are  "full  of  fun,  so  that  I  love  to 
Bee  them.  But  I  sadly  want  a  monitress  or 
pupil-teacher:  my  former  assistant,  Mennee, 
though  so  young,  and  not  very  bright,  would 
be  a  great  comfort.  As  to  making  one  of 
these  untaught  young  Moslims,  or  even  one 
of  the  few  Coptic  girls,  into  a  monitress,  I 
find  that  will  not  answer  as  yet.  After  they 
have  been  a  few  months  at  school,  I  may  try 
it  again;  but  at  present  the  attempt  usually 
fails,  because  the  monitress  will  persist  in 
beating  the  scholars  under  her,  and  they,  on 
their  part,  decline  obeying  an  equal  unless 
she  does  beat  them.  This  morning  they  all 
with  one  consent  began  repeating  their  text 
so  profanely,  in  imitation  of  two  little  Copts 
(who  are  much  worse  in  this,  respect  than 
Moslims),  that  a  general  laughing  ensued,  and 
I  was  obliged,  as  soon  as  I  could  gain  a  hear- 
ing, to  speak  very  seriously  about  it.  'Listen, 
children.  You  know  I  do  not  beat.  My  cane 
is  only  a  reed  to  point  with,  and  cannot  beat: 


HOW  THE  SCHOOL  PROGRESSED.  229 

but  therefore  you  must  obey  my  voice :  do 
you  understand ?'  1  Yes,  teacher.'  'Very well. 
Now,  God's  words — the  words  of  his  book — 
are  holy,  and  must  be  said  slowly  and  softly, 
thus  .  .  .  .,  and  not  screamed,  as  you  did  this 
morning.  God  hears  you,  remember.  He  is 
great,  and  we  are  small ;  he  is  holy,  and  we  are 
sinners  :  so  we  must  speak  softly  when  we  say 
the  words  of  his  book.'  They  now  all  re- 
peated, in  soft,  gentle  tones,  '  There  is  One 
God  and  One  Mediator,'  &c. ;  and  all  looked 
pleased  when  I  praised  them.  Praise  is,  in- 
deed, as  much  valued  by  these  little  children 
as  by  other  little  ones,  if  not  more."  *  *  * 

"  I  had  to  take  the  school  into  a  sort  of 
passage  or  corridor  to-day,  because  some  one 
had  broken  the  windows  of  the  school-room, 
and  the  glazier  had  selected  that  hour  to  mend 
them,  instead  of  coming  in  the  afternoon  of 
the  previous  day,  according  to  my  request.  It 
was  hard  work  to  teach  in  so  confined  a  place ; 
for  no  child  liked  to  give  way,  and  one  nudged 

and  another  knocked,  and  the  incessant  cry 
20 


230 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


was,  'She  pinched  me!'  followed  by  a  howl 
from  the  injured  one  and  peals  of  laughtei 
from  the  rest.  Heneyna  played  every  ima- 
ginable monkey-trick,  and  when  sent  to  the 
corner  pretended  to  hide  her  face  and  cry,  while 
grinning  through  the  chinks  of  her  ragged 
blue  veil :  so  that  it  was  impossible  to  keep 
one's  countenance.  When  the  glazier's  work 
was  done,  instead  of  going  away,  he  stood 
looking  at  the  pictures,  and  took  a  card  in  his 
hand,  and  really  seemed  as  if  he  would  gladly 
have  been  a  scholar  himself.  I  asked  if  he 
had  any  little  girls,  and  he  said,  sorrowfully, 
1 1  had  one  once,  but  she  is  dead.' 

"  Fatmeh,  Shoh's  sister,  had  not  been  to  see 
me  for  a  long  time,  and  her  last  two  visits 
were,  I  grieve  to  say,  evidently  made  on  mer- 
cenary motives.  She  is  an  amiable,  quiet- 
tempered  creature,  but  weak  and  changeable, 
and  very  inferior  in  intelligence  to  Shoh,  who, 
though  not  good-tempered,  is  capable,  I  think, 
of  stronger  affection. 

"The  desire  for  approbation  is  "ery  amusing 


HOW  THE  SCHOOL  PROGRESSED.  231 

sometimes,  in  my  little  flock,  by  the  manner 
with  which  they  ask  for  it:  as,  for  instance, 
'Am  I  not  good  to-day,  teacher?  Am  I  not 
quite  nice?1  or,  'Teacher,  you  love  me  because 
I  am  good — don't  you?  Say  I  am  good!' 
'Is  my  work  very  pretty?'  lisps  a  little  crea- 
ture of  five  years  old,  with  a  bit  of  rag  pulled 
over  her  forefinger,  its  original  hue  disguised 
by  dirt  and  what  workwomen  call  'mauling,' 
and  with  stitches  half  an  inch  long.  This  self- 
praise,  as  well  as  the  constant  demand  for  ap- 
probation, needed  frequent  checking,  of  course; 
and  one  day,  when  explaining  the  parable  of 
the  Pharisee  and  Publican,  of  which  I  had  a 
picture  on  the  wall,  I  tried  to  show  them  the 
sin  of  pride  and  boasting,  saying  that  God  did 
not  like  people  who  praised  themselves,  but 
that  the  Publican  was  right  because  he  was 
humble,  &c.  Next  morning,  two  or  three 
children  began,  as  usual,  vaunting  themselves 
for  their  supposed  merits, — when  a  little  Copt 
girl,  in  many  respects  a  very  good  child,  but 
particularly  addictel  to  this  habit,  called  out 


232 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


from  the  corner  where  she  was  sitting  with  he/ 
spelling-card,  'Sitti,  I  am  very  bad!'  (in  a  tone 
of  triumph  and  exultation  difficult  to  describe) ; 
1 1  am  good  for  nothing !  I  am  a  pig  !  /'  At 
which  climax,  I  confess,  the  dignity  of  the 
teacher  gave  way,  and  she  fairly  burst  out 
laughing.  The  'pride  that  apes  humility'  was 
certainly  exhibited  to  perfection,  as  she  re- 
peated, 'I  am  not  a  Pharisee;  I  am  good  for 
nothing !  I  am  a  pig \V " 

"January,  1863. — Reopened  school  this 
month.  After  the  Christmas  holidays,  which 
had  lasted  a  fortnight,  I  had  had  a  severe  cold, 
and,  having  no  one  to  take  my  place  in  school, 
I  was  obliged  to  dismiss  school  for  that  period 
and  go  for  change  of  air  to  the  country.  I 
found  the  fatigue  of  so  many  hours'  incessant 
teaching  too  much  to  continue,  especially  as  a 
matron  who  has  never  been  accustomed  to  any 
kind  of  school  can  afford  but  very  partial  aid, 
even  in  keeping  order,  and  not  unfrequently 
leaves  the  sewing  upon  my  hands  in  addition 
to  the  rest.    The  missionary  to  the  Moslima 


HOW  THE  SCHOOL  PROGRESSED.  233 

kindly  gave  me  a  little  temporary  help  in 
reading  and  catechizing  in  Scripture,  two  or 
three  times,  justly  considering  that,  as  they 
were  chiefly  Moslim  children,  an  hour  thus 
spent  was  not  lost  to  his  peculiar  business. 
But  I  wanted  daily  and  more  mechanical  as- 
sistance; and  at  length,  at  the  very  end  of  the 
month,  a  young  person  was  recommended  to 
me,  who  could  teach  the  routine  of  spelling 
and  reading,  and  who,  though  unused  to  a 
school,  seemed  so  intelligent  and  docile  that 
there  was  every  hope  she  would  improve 
rapidly ;  and  her  first  week  proved  very  satis- 
factory, on  the  whole.  Teresa  is  of  mixed 
Italian  and  Syrian  extraction,  though  born  in 
Cairo,  and  a  member  of  one  of  the  Oriental 
Churches,  and  not,  therefore,  to  be  trusted 
with  any  religious  instruction ;  but  she  is  per- 
fectly aware  that  she  is  not  to  interfere  in 
this,  and  is  so  far  from  being  bigoted  that  she 
is  ready  to  read  and  listen  to  the  gospe] 
for  herself.    Her  assistance  spares  my  voice 

greatly, — though,  being  only  mechanical  aid, 
20* 


234 


CHILD-LIFE  EN  EGYPT. 


her  own  education  being  so  limited,  the  same 
constant  superintendence  is  necessary  as  before, 
at  least  as  yet ;  but  she  is  far  beyond  the  poor 
old  matron  in  sense,  &c. ;  and  if  she  were  a 
Protestant,  I  would  by  degrees  train  her  into 
a  nice  teacher." 

The  fast  of  Eamadan,  which  began  the  third 
week  in  February,  had  the  effect  of  thinning 
our  numbers  for  a  time,  considerably,  as  all 
but  quite  the  young  ones  fast,  and  therefore 
are  unfit  for  any  exertion  in  the  daytime, — 
the  Moslim  fast  implying  abstinence  from 
water,  as  well  as  food,  from  sunrise  to  sunset. 
But  when  that  weary  month  was  over  the 
children  soon  flocked  back  to  school,  and  their 
numbers  varied  between  twenty  and  thirty, 
and  latterly  there  was  a  decided  increase. 
Something  of  order  and  manners  had,  ere  that 
time  been  established:  some  steady  scholars 
could  spell,  and  were  beginning  to  read;  and  the 
greater  part,  who  were  not  steady  in  attend- 
ance and  consequently  could  not  read,  yet 
could  repeat  several  texts  of  Scripture,  and 


HOW  THE  SCHOOL  PROGRESSED.  235 

also  the  first  answers  in  a  brief  catechism  which 
had  been  prepared  for  theii  use;  and  all,  except 
new-comers,  could  tell  the  meaning  of  several 
Scripture  pictures.  It  is  true  that  a  stranger 
might  easily  overrate  the  order  and  tranquillity 
of  the  children,  for  the  presence  of  a  foreign 
visitor  naturally  awed  them  into  unusual  still- 
ness and  propriety  of  demeanour;  and  an 
English  gentleman,  who  honoured  the  school 
with  a  visit  one  day,  remarked  that  they 
seemed  "a  very  quiet,  orderly  set,"  which,  had 
he  seen  them  ten  minutes  before,  he  certainly 
could  not  have  said.  But  considering  the 
circumstances,  and  that  these  were  chiefly 
Moslim  girls  of  the  lowest  class,  and  that 
more  than  half  had  never  been  to  any  sort  of 
school  till  a  few  months  before,  we  had  no 
reason  to  be  discouraged,  but  rather  much 
cause  for  thankfulness. 

Shoh  frequently  came  in  to  listen  while  I 
taught  Scripture  in  school ;  and  one  day,  when 
the  missionary  had  called  and  was  assisting 
me  by  reading  to  the  elder  children  the  his- 


236  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 

tory  of  the  Crucifixion,  Shoh,  with  her  baby 
on  her  lap,  seated  herself  on  the  ground  to 
listen.  When  we  stopped,  I  asked  her  if  she 
knew  why  Jesus  Christ  suffered  this  death  on 
the  cross.  "  It  was  for  our  sakes,"  replied 
Shoh,  without  hesitation, — "for  our  sins, — to 
save  us."  Now,  I  do  not  say  this  poor  child- 
woman  is  a  Christian :  God  only  knows  how 
far  the  knowledge,  small  as  it  is,  which  she 
has  received,  has  sunk  into  her  heart, — whether 
the  intellect  is  stirred  without  the  soul  having 
taken  the  impression,  or  if  there  is  light  in 
the  soul,  so  faint  that  his  all-seeing  eye  can 
alone  be  sure  of  its  presence;  but  she  does 
know  that  Christ  died  for  sinners :  she  may 
never  throw  off  the  outward  yoke  of  Islam, 
and  yet  by  degrees  may  come  nearer  and 
nearer  to  Him  whom  she  now  sees  afar  off. 
We  must  pray  and  wait,  in  her  case,  as  in  so 
many  others. 

It  is  a  comfort  to  see  habits  of  cleanliness 
beginning  to  make  a  little  way, — though  I  fear 
it  will  be  some  time  yet  before  they  will  pene* 


HOW  THE  SCHOOL  PROGRESSED.  237 


trate  into  the  homes,  and  that  clean  hands  and 
faces  are  only  looked  on  as  a  "school-dress:" 
still,  even  that  is  a  point  gained.  I  observe 
the  older  girls  seldom  now  come  with  dirty 
faces,  and  those  who  have  been  some  time  in 
school  are  vigorous  assistants  in  purifying 
new-comers,  some  of  whom  really  look  as  if  a 
hoe  would  be  required  before  soap  and  water 
could  produce  any  effect.  It  is  rather  amusing 
to  see  the  pride  shown  by  old  scholars  in  intro- 
ducing a  new  child,  who  generally  comes  up 
the  steps  with  a  half-frightened  look,  as  if 
fearing  to  be  beaten,  and  yet  half  laughing  at 
the  encouragements  of  the  others  who  surround 
her,  patting  her  on  the  back,  saying,  "  Don't 
be  afraid :  the  teacher  is  good."  Then  one 
calls  out  her  name : — u  Sitti,  here  is  a  new 
girl :  she  is  called  Fatmeh,  or  Hosna,  or  So- 
and-so."  Another  exhorts  her  officiously  to 
kiss  the  teacher's  hand;  and  then,  while  she 
stands  undecided  whether  to  laugh  or  cry  \t 
the  door,  scarcely  able  to  listen  to  the  kind 
words  which  her  teacher  addresses  to  her,  be- 


238 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


cause  so  many  voices  are  speakirg  round  her, 
the  state  of  her  face  and  hands  is  perceived, 
and,  with  some  coaxing,  she  is  induced  to  un- 
dergo the  ablutions,  of  which  she  cannot  see 
the  advantage, — poor  little  thing !  To  go  to  the 
bath  once  in  a  very  long  time  is  a  treat  to  any 
Egyptian  child  (and  we  may  venture  to  re- 
mark that  in  this  they  are  better  off  than 
some  in  our  great  cities,  who  never  do  get 
even  a  yearly  scouring) ;  but  the  idea  of  daily 
cleanliness  is,  of  course,  a  complete  novelty, 
and,  at  first,  distasteful.  The  victim  is  seized 
by  two  school-fellows,  and  made  to  stoop  down 
while  they  scrub  her  cheeks  and  hands,  and 
sometimes  get  the  soap  into  her  eyes,  till  she 
cries  for  mercy ;  but  when  the  operation  is 
over,  and  her  brown  skin  shines  with  rubbing, 
she  is  again  patted  on  the  back  and  neck,  and 
comforted  whh  the  cheering  assurance  that 
she  is  now  "quite  pretty, — quite  nice, — very 
clean,"  and  takes  her  place  tolerably  content. 

Hair  is  a  much  more  difficult  matter  *fcan 
hands  and  faces,  as  the  foolish  custom  of  j  -*it- 


HOW  THE  SCHOOL  PROGRESSED.  239 

ing  it  in  long  and  numerous  tails,  which  are 
only  undone  at  rare  intervals,  renders  cleanli- 
ness scarcely  possible :  the  more  respectable 
persons  undo  the  plaits  once  a  week,  and  we 
endeavour  to  get  the  children  to  keep  to  this 
plan,  which  is  the  best  attainable  at  present ; 
the  poorest,  if  left  to  themselves,  would  think 
two  or  three  times  a  year  often  enough.  The 
very  little  girls,  however,  cut  their  hair  short, 
which  I  always  applaud,  and  advise  the  mothers 
to  keep  it  so  till  they  get  big.  One  wonders 
they  should  not  all  cut  it  off,  as  scarcely  any, 
except  the  long  ends,  or  a  few  stray  hairs,  is 
allowed  to  be  seen,  the  covering  being  always 
tied  over  the  whole  head  among  the  poor  chil- 
dren. Probably  they  would  get  sunstrokes  if 
they  did  not  thus  protect  the  head  in  a  coun- 
try where  the  power  of  the  sun  is  so  great 
during  most  of  the  year. 

It  seems  as  if  every  depth  had  a  lower  depth, 
and  the  boys  are  even  worse  than  the  girls,  as 
to  uncleanness :  at  least,  it  is  more  difficult  to 
make  them  care.    Vanity  comes  in  to  assist  a 


240 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


girl  in  thinking  of  her  appearance  when  once 
she  begins  to  see  that  a  clean  face  is  better 
than  one  smeared  with  mud  and  dust ;  but  the 
boy  only  wishes  to  enjoy  his  play  unfettered. 
The  two  or  three  small  boys  who  were  allowed 
on  sufferance  with  their  sisters  (all  under  four 
years  old)  came  each  day  as  begrimed  as  be- 
fore, of  course ;  but  they  soon  learned  to  sub- 
mit patiently  to  the  daily  ceremony  at  school. 
One,  a  little  Copt  boy,  named  Mansoor,  was 
really  a  lovely  little  fellow  when  clean,  in  spite 
of  the  most  wretched  and  unbecoming  gar- 
ment— he  had  but  one;  such  sweet  black 
eyes,  with  a  little  wistful  expression  !  I  used 
to  think  how  nice  that  child  would  look  in  a 
white  frock  and  scarlet  sash;  however,  he 
was  just  as  happy  making  dust-heaps  and  nib- 
bling sugarcane ;  and  he  may  wear  white  one 
day  of  another  kind,  poor  child,  if  he  learns 
to  know  the  truth,  and  to  become  a  con- 
queror over  sin  through  the  power  of  the 
Spirit.  The  name  Mansoor  signifies,  properly, 
one  who  has  obtained  a  victory,  or,  rather,  one 


HOW  THE  SCHOOL  PROGRESSED.  241 


who  has  been  enabled  by  God  to  gain  the  vic- 
tory,— a  beautiful  meaning. 

It  may  interest  those  who  are  occupied 
about  schools,  or  who  love  the  subject  of 
teaching  for  its  own  sake,  to  glance  over  a 
translation  of  the  brief  catechism  which  the 
children  in  Bab-el-Bahar  are  taught ;  it  must 
be  borne  in  mind  that  it  was  arranged  for 
the  use  of  Moslims  especially,  and  with  a 
view  to  quite  young  children ;  the  correspond- 
ing Arabic  is  as  simple  in  its  wording  as  the 
English  given  here,  which  is  as  nearly  literal 
as  the  difference  of  the  language  permits. 

Question.  Who  made  you  ? 

Answer.  God. 

Q.  Where  is  the  difference  between  you 
and  the  brutes  ? 

A.  I  have  a  soul,  and  they  have  not. 

Q.  What  will  happen  to  your  body  ? 

A.  It  will  die  and  be  laid  in  the  ground. 

Q.  What  will  then  happen  to  your  soul  ? 

A.  My  soul  will  either  go  to  heaven  or  to 
hell. 

Q  21 


242 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


Q.  What  is  heaven  ? 

A.  A  beautiful  place,  where  there  is  ld  sin 
and  no  sorrow,  and  where  God  dwells. 
Q.  What  is  hell? 

A.  A  dreadful  place  of  misery,  far  from 
God. 

Q.  How  can  you  go  to  heaven  ? 
A.  I  must  love  God  and  obey  him  all  my 
life. 

Q.  Are  you  able  to  do  this  ? 
A.  Not  of  myself,  because  my  heart  is  evil; 
I  often  do  wrong. 

Q.  Are  all  people  sinners  ? 
A.  Yes. 

Q.  Do  they  deserve  heaven  ? 

A.  No,  they  deserve  hell ;  but  God  is  will- 
ing to  forgive  their  sins. 

Q.  For  whose  sake  will  God  forgive  sin  ? 

A.  For  the  sake  of  Jesus  Christ  his  Son, 
who  bore  the  punishment  of  sin  in  his  own 
person. 

Q.  Why  do  you  call  Jesus  Christ  the  Son 
of  God? 


HOW  THE  SCHOOL  PROGEESSED.  243 

A.  Because  he  is  the  Spirit  of  God  in  a 
human  body. 

Q.  What  did  he  suffer  for  us  ? 

A.  He  died  upon  the  cross,  a  cruel  death, 
that  we  might  receive  pardon  instead  of  pun- 
ishment. 

Q.  Did  his  body  remain  in  the  ground  ? 

A.  No;  he  rose  the  third  day,  and  his  body 
is  now  in  heaven. 

Q.  Will  he  enable  you  to  obey  and  love 
God? 

i 

A.  Yes ;  he  will  enable  me  to  do  so  by  his 
Holy  Spirit,  if  I  trust  in  him. 

Q.  Where  do  you  learn  this  ? 

A.  In  God's  book,  called  the  Bible. 

Q.  What  will  happen  to  you  if  you  do  not 
obey  God  and  die  without  forgiveness  ? 

A.  I  shall  go  to  that  dreadful  place. 

Q.  Why  is  Jesus  called  the  Saviour  ? 

A.  Because  he  came  to  save  people  from 
their  sins. 

Q.  Is  he  willing  to  save  you  9 


244 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


A.  Yes ;  for  he  said,  "  Suffer  the  little  chil- 
dren  to  come  unto  me." 

Q.  What  must  you,  then,  do? 

A.  I  must  pray  God  to  change  my  heart 
and  give  me  his  Holy  Spirit,  and  to  forgive 
me  for  Jesus  Christ's  sake,  and  to  take  me 
when  I  die  to  heaven. 

The  foregoing  questions  and  answers  are  all 
that  had  been  taught  when  I  left  Cairo;  but  a 
few  further  ones  have  since  that  been  added, 
to  teach  the  doctrines  of  the  Christian  faith 
more  fully,  especially  the  resurrection  of  the 
body,  and  day  of  judgment,  &c;  and  it  will 
gradually  be  enlarged  as  the  scholars'  minds 
are  more  developed  and  their  powers  of  learn- 
ing by  heart  improved.  In  the  beginning  of 
a  school  like  this,  the  time  occupied  in  teach- 
ing half  a  dozen  questions  and  answers,  and 
the  difficulty  (where  the  attendance  is  not  re- 
gular), are  not  to  be  understood  save  by  ex- 
perience. 


Cfcilb  fife  in  <£mi. 


Zeynab. 


p.  245. 


ZEYNAB. 


245 


CHAPTER  XX. 

ZEYNAB. 

UE.  readers  will  not  fail  to  recollect  a 
notice  taken  of  the  girl  in  the  tama- 
risk-grove, near  the  little  desert,  in  whom 
I  took  a  strong  interest.  In  the  course  of  the 
winter,  after  my  return  to  Cairo,  I  made 
several  ineffectual  attempts  to  find  her,  and 
began  almost  to  despair,  and  to  think  (what 
was  indeed  highly  probable)  that  she  must 
have  married  and  removed  to  some  other  vil- 
lage, if  she  were  not  dead.  I  had  made  in- 
quiries about  her  of  the  poor  women  or  chil- 
dren who  were  often  to  be  met  with  near  the 
grove,  and  in  the  barley-  and  dourra-fields 
around  it;  and  two  or  three  wrong  Zeynabs 

had  been  produced.    One  came  at  last,  who, 
21* 


246 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  ZGYPT. 


hoping,  perhaps,  for  some  present  if  I  believed 
her  to  be  an  old  acquaintance,  persisted,  in  a 
confused  and  hesitating  way,  that  she  remem- 
bered me,  and  was  the  girl  I  meant ;  but  I 
was  sure  I  should  recognize  the  face;  and, 
moreover,  this  individual  was  decidedly  younger 
than  Zeynab  was  when  I  had  seen  her,  and 
nearly  two  years  could  not  have  had  the  effect 
of  making  her  grow  backwards :  so  the  false 
maiden  was  civilly  rejected.  It  was  on  one 
Saturday,  when  I  had  come  out  to  spend  my 
weekly  holiday  in  the  pure  air  of  the  coun- 
try, and  was  sitting  under  the  light-falling 
tamarisk  shade,  talking  to  a  group  of  women 
and  girls.  One  of  them  was  an  intelligent 
woman,  who  appeared  really  anxious  to  listen 
to  a  short  portion  of  Scripture  which  I  read 
to  them,  and  was  quite  vexed  with  another 
who  interrupted  us  every  minute  by  begging 
to  know  "what  this  dress  was  made  of,"  or 
some  such  remark. 

After  some  time  had  passed,  and  I  thought 
they  ha  1  had  as  much  as  they  could  attend  to 


ZEYNAB. 


247 


for  one  day,  I  broke  up  the  circle,  and  went  to 
stroll  among  the  fields.    On  my  return,  all 
were  gone  but  the  woman  alluded  to.  She  sat 
beside  my  maid  (who  was  engaged  in  sewing 
under  one  of  the  trees),  and  seemed  as  if  she 
did  not  wish  to  go  away.    I  sat  down  with 
a  sketch-book,  and  was  beginning  to  renew 
the  conversation  with  her,  when  an  elderly 
peasant-woman — very  dark,  but  not  bad-look- 
ing, and  less  ragged  and  dirty  than  the  others 
had  been — came  quickly  towards  us  from  the 
dourra-field,  and,  seizing  my  hand,  exclaimed, 
"  I  am  Zeynab's  mother."  She  kissed  my  hand, 
and  then  stooped  down  for  a  moment,  gazing 
with  interest  and  curiosity,  then,  springing  up, 
caught  me  round  the  neck  and  bestowed  on  me 
several  hearty  kisses,  saying,  "  I  know  you ;  my 
daughter  knows  you — she  is  Zeynab !"  Though 
I  never  had  seen  the  woman  before,  I  did  not 
feel  the  smallest  doubt  that  she  really  was 
what  she  professed  to  be,  and  that  the  lost 
sheep  was  found  :  it  seemed  to  be  an  instinct 
of  belief.    She  proceeded  to  tell  me  that 


248 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


Zeynab  was  making  bread  in  the  house,  and 
could  not  come  out  directly  (that  being  a  busi- 
ness which  cannot  be  interrupted  when  one© 
commenced),  but  that  she  had  heard  from  one 
of  the  girls  of  the  village  that  the  lady  she 
knew  was  there  and  was  asking  for  her;  and 
she  had  said,  "  Oh,  mother,  go  quickly  to  her 
and  tell  her  I  will  soon  come."  So  she  had 
set  off  at  once  in  search  of  her  daughter's 
friend.  She  asked  if  I  could  stay  till  even- 
ing. I  said  I  could  stay  two  hours  more,  but, 
if  she  liked,  instead  of  waiting  there,  I  would 
go  to  her  house  and  see  her  daughter.  She 
was  delighted,  and  said  I  should  be  "  welcome, 
■ — and  very  welcome !"  and  pointed  the  way 
across  the  fields. 

The  village  was  only  a  quarter  of  a  mile  off, 
and  consisted,  like  most  Egyptian  villages,  of 
a  number  of  mud  huts,  all  built  close  together 
(flat-roofed,  of  course),  and  many  of  them  with 
rounded  walls,  something  like  a  cheese  with  a 
hole  in  one  side.  None  appeared  to  have  any 
windows,  but  most  had  some  sort  of  door 


ZEYXAB. 


249 


the  whole  concern  swarming,  as  usual,  with 
children  aid  animals,  and  rubbish  of  every 
sort, — the  use  of  a  broom  being  apparently 
unknown  there. 

As  we  approached,  the  mother  gave  a  signal, 
and  called  out,  "There  she  is! — that  is  Zey- 
nab !"  as  a  girl  with  a  little  child  on  her  shoul- 
der (her  nephew)  came  out  of  one  of  the  huts. 
She  hastily  set  down  her  burden  on  the  ground 
and  ran  up  to  us.  I  knew  my  old  acquaintance 
instantly;  and  she,  on  her  part,  recollected 
me  equally  well :  with  a  cry  of  joy,  she  caught 
and  pressed  my  hands  in  both  her's,  and  then 
flung  her  arms  round  my  neck,  as  her  mother 
had  done,  her  bright  eyes  sparkling  with 
pleasure.  Then  they  brought  us  into  the 
house,  the  servant  staying  at  the  roadside 
with  the  asses,  and  looking,  to  say  truth,  as 
if  he  thought  risiting  in  mud  cabins  was  a 
very  vulgar  taste  in  his  employer.  This  was 
not  the  abode  of  actual  poverty,  for  in  their 
rank  of  life  the  family  of  Zeynab  were  evi- 
dently tolerably  well  off,  their  wants  being 


250 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYP1. 


so  few  and  simple.  The  hut  was  large,  and 
not  so  dirty  as  many  I  have  seen, — though  the 
floor  was  encumbered  with  straw  and  corn- 
cobs and  three  or  four  goats  were  feeding  on 
dourra-leaves  at  one  end.  There  were  two 
little  divisions  (I  cannot  call  them  rooms,  as 
only  a  low  ridge  of  dried  mud  separated  them 
from  the  main  apartments),  one  of  which  con- 
tained the  oven,  where  Zeynab's  sister  and 
sister-in-law  were  busy  with  the  bread,  the 
latter  having  apparently  come  in  to  take  her 
place,  and  thus  leaving  her  free  to  attend  to 
her  guest.  The  thin  flaps  of  bread  were 
clapped  against  the  side  of  the  oven,  to  which 
they  stick  somehow  till  they  are  baked  :  a  very 
short  time  suffices;  but,  as  a  large  batch  is 
usually  prepared  at  once,  and  a  great  many 
loaves  are  needed,  being  so  small,  a  consider- 
able time  is  occupied  by  the  process.  Zeynab's 
mother  brought  a  basket  of  the  fresh  dourra 
bread,  and  then,  from  a  hole  in  the  wall,  took 
a  pickled  turnip,  which  she  offered  in  the 
palm  of  her  hand, — plates  and  dishes  not  being 


ZEY1ntAB. 


251 


part  of  the  furniture  of  her  house.  A  piece 
of  jibn,  or  salt  curd  (which,  when  clean,  is  a 
good  and  wholesome  article),  followed;  and  to 
refuse  these  dainties  would  have  affronted  her: 
so  I  had  to  eat  a  little,  as  in  the  Bedouins' 
houses,  and  conceal  the  rest  in  a  pocket- 
handkerchief  or  in  the  straw  behind  me. 
The  good  creature  was  giving  the  best  she 
had,  and  it  never  occurred  to  her  that  things 
being  dirty  was  any  objection  to  them.  Mean- 
time, Zeynab  was  pounding  coffee  in  a  metal 
mortar  with  a  heavy  wooden  pestle  of  rude 
manufacture.  She  then  took  a  handful  of  the 
dry  corn-cobs  and  put  them  in  a  mangal,  or 
earthen  vessel  for  fire,  and  set  them  alight, 
placing  a  coffee-pot  on  the  flame.  In  a  short 
time  her  coffee  was  ready,  and  presented  by 
the  mother  in  Arab  style, — i.e.  in  small  cups, 
without  sugar  or  milk.  Zeynab  sat  by  me  as 
soon  as  her  task  was  over,  holding  my  hand 
in  her's,  and  expressing  her  pleasure  at  our 
meeting,  even  more  by  her  face  than  by  her 
words.    I  tried  to  recall  to  her  mind  some- 


252 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT 


thing  of  the  conversation  I  had  formerly  had 
with  her  the  last  morning  I  saw  her,  and  she 
seemed  to  recollect  it  perfectly,  and  mentioned 
one  or  two  things  which  I  could  scarcely  have 
expected  to  remain  in  her  memory. 

"And  the  prayer,  Zeynab?"  I  asked:  "do 
you  remember  it?" 

"I  remember  part, — not  all,"  she  replied. 

I  said  the  first  clause,  "0  Lord,  give  me 
thy  Holy  Spirit,"  and  she  immediately  finished 
it,  adding, — 

'"And  lead  me  to  the  truth.'  I  often  say 
that  part, — very  often,"  she  continued;  "but 
the  first  part,  about  the  Spirit,  I  forgot." 

"Thank  God  you  have  not  forgotten  all!" 

"No,  indeed;  I  have  not  forgotten;  and  I 
never  forget  you,"  said  the  girl. 

After  talking  some  little  time,  I  took  leave, 
engaging  them  to  come  and  see  me  and  the 
school, — which  they  promised  to  do  very  soon, 
as  Kamadan  was  near  at  hand,  and  no  Moslims 
willingly  undertake  long  walks  or  pay  visits 
m  that  month,  as  they  dare  not  take  any  re- 


ZEYN1B. 


253 


freshmen t.  Early  the  following  week  my  ex- 
pected visitors  made  their  appearance,  between 
nine  and  ten  o'clock.  Zeynab  and  her  mother 
walked  into  the  class-room  where  I  was  teach- 
ing, one  bearing  a  jar  of  new  milk  on  her  head, 
and  the  other  a  cloth  in  her  hand,  containing 
a  number  of  fresh  eggs.  They  had  walked 
at  least  three  miles  with  these  things,  as  a 
present  for  me ! 

Zeynab's  eyes  shone  like  opals  in  her  brown, 
sunburnt  face,  as  she  affectionately  greeted 
me;  and  the  old  dame  was  as  cordial  in  her 
own  way.  I  brought  them  up-stairs ;  and  they 
were  as  delighted  and  amazed  at  the  sight  of 
the  simple  apartment  as  if  it  had  been  a  room 
in  a  palace.  The  dimity  curtain,  and  clean, 
whitewashed  walls,  the  plain  but  commodious 
divan,  and  a  deal  table  covered  with  a  crimson 
cotton  cloth,  appeared  wonderful  luxuries  to 
eyes  only  accustomed  to  dirty  and  unfurnished 
mud  cabins.  The  mother  was  the  most  curi- 
ous, and  begged  permission  to  look  behind  the 

curtain,  which  formed  one  end  of  the  long 
22 


254 


CHILD-LIFE  EN  EGYPT. 


room  into  a  bed-chamber.  Here  her  surprise 
and  admiration  were  increased  by  the  spectacle 
of  a  little  toilet-stand  of  the  humblest  style 
possible,  but  above  which  hung  a  mirror  longer 
than  her  hand,  and  in  which  she  could,  for  the 
first  time,  see  her  whole  face  reflected.  "  Zey- 
nab,  girl,  come  here! — Come  and  look!"  she 
exclaimed.  The  brushes  and  pin-cushion  were 
scarcely  less  of  curiosities;  and  many  were 
her  exclamations  of  "wonderful!"  I  asked  if 
she  had  found  any  difficulty  in  discovering  the 
house.  "  No,"  she  said.  "  I  did  just  as  you 
told  me, — came  first  to  the  Bab-el-Hadeed,  then 
walked  up  the  broad  road,  and  then  asked  for 
Bab-el-Bahar,  and  they  showed  me;  then  I 
came,  as  you  said,  to  the  blacksmith's  shop, 
and  he  knew  you,  and  said  this  was  the  house." 

Among  the  various  articles  in  the  room, 
none  more  amazed  my  guests  than  the  book- 
shelf, with  about  two  dozen  of  volumes.  "  Have 
you  really  read  all  those  books?"  the  mother 
said,  and  was  evidently  amazed  at  the  amount 
of  learning  it  implied;  she  even  rose  again 


ZEYNAB. 


255 


from  her  seat,  and  went  to  the  shelf  to  look  closer 
at  the  books  and  count  them  over.  "This  is 
your  gospel,  is  it  not  ?"  said  Zeynab,  pointing 
to  the  Arabic  Testament  on  the  table.  This 
seemed  a  favourable  moment  for  introducing 
the  book ;  and  I  took  it  up  and  offered  to  read 
a  story  from  it.  Zeynab  wished  to  listen;  but 
her  mother,  although  acquiescing,  was  too  full 
of  what  she  saw  to  give  her  attention,  and 
interrupted  me  incessantly.  She  was  one  who 
evidently  preferred  her  own  voice  to  any  thing 
else.  Just  as  I  had  found  the  place,  and  was 
commencing  to  read,  she  exclaimed,  "  I  de- 
clare, your  ears  are  not  bored  !  Tell  me  why. 
Have  you  no  ear-rings?  And  I  do  not  see 
jewels  !  Have  you  not  many  jewels?"  "Very 
few,"  I  told  her;  "for  I  cared  more  about 
other  things."  After  a  little  talk  about  jewels, 
I  asked  Zeynab  if  she  knew  the  best  orna- 
ment any  woman  could  have, — and  then  told 
her  how  God  liked  a  meek  and  quiet  spirit  in 
us,  better  than  gold  or  diamonds.  Yet  many 
women  thought  more  of  these  pretty  things 


256 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


to  hang  on  their  necks  than  of  pleasing  God. 
"  Certainly,"  said  the  mother,  who  would  not 
let  the  girl  get  in  a  single  word,  "  we  should 
above  all  think  of  our  souls,  and  praise  God 
and  the  prophet,  our  Lord  Mohammed."  I 
feared  to  close  the  door  against  myself  if  I  got 
into  an  argument  with  the  old  lady  about  her 
prophet,  especially  as  my  limited  language 
might  hinder  my  making  myself  clearly  under- 
stood on  the  subject:  so  I  turned  from  it  by 
finishing  the  history  I  had  begun,  with  which 
she  expressed  herself  pleased, — though  she  in- 
terrupted so  often  that  I  fear  she  could  not 
have  carried  much  away  with  her.  Mean- 
time, the  cook  had,  at  my  desire,  been  pre- 
paring such  a  meal  as  my  guests  were  likely  to 
relish,  and,  as  it  was  noon,  I  took  them  to  the 
class-room,  now  empty,  where  it  was  spread, 
on  a  clean  white  napkin,  on  the  floor ;  for,  as 
they  had  never  sat  at  a  table,  it  would  only 
have  made  them  feel  awkward  to  induce  them 
to  attempt  it.  The  clean  cloth,  however, 
Btruck  the  old  woman  as  a  delicate  attention, 


ZEYNAB. 


257 


for  she  thanked  me  as  if  for  a  great  sompli- 
ment;  and  possibly  the  hint  may  be  ad  van-' 
tageous,  for  she  might  attain  to  a  piece  of 
clean  cotton,  if  not  to  a  damask  napkin,  in 
her  own  cabin.  No  plates  were  laid,  but 
plenty  of  native  bread,  and  a  dish  of  rice 
cooked  with  butter,  and  a  fowl  stewed  with 
onions  and  tomatoes, — which  is  a  favourite  na- 
tive dish,  and  by  no  means  a  contemptible  one. 
My  guests  rarely  indulged  in  such  dainties, 
and  probably  never  tasted  meat  but  on  occa- 
sion of  some  great  festivals.  They  would  not, 
however,  have  enjoyed  the  repast  unless  their 
hostess  had  sat  down  and  "  dipped  in  the  dish" 
with  them :  it  would  have  been  supposed,  if 
she  declined,  that  she  felt  too  proud  to  share 
with  them. 

Though  knives,  forks  and  spoons  are  cer- 
tainly a  very  good  invention,  I  am  bound  to 
allow  that  Orientals  do  not  eat  as  unpleasantly 
without  their  aid  as  some  awkward  or  ill- 
mannered  persons  contrive  to  do  with  them : 

even  Zeynab  and  her  mother,  simple  peasants 
R  22* 


258 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


as  they  were,  managed  very  deftly  and  nicely : 
•a  bit  of  the  tough  native  bread  was  easily 
folded  into  a  sort  of  spoon,  with  which  they 
took  up  rice,  &c.  Some  native  sweets  con- 
cluded the  entertainment;  after  which  they 
came  into  the  school-room  to  see  the  scholars 
at  work,  and  stayed  another  hour  watching 
the  process  and  chatting,  till  I  confess  to 
having  got  quite  tired,  and  my  stock  of  Arabic 
seemed  exhausted.  But  it  is  the  custom  to 
pay  visits  of  great  length  in  the  East,  and  the 
poor  things  had  put  on  their  best  clothes  for 
the  occasion,  and  were  so  well  pleased  that  I 
would  not  on  any  account  have  hurried  them 
away.  The  gala  costume  consisted  of  a 
coloured-print  jacket  and  trowsers,  with  a 
tob  (or  loose  outer  robe)  of  very  thin,  dark- 
blue  cotton,  almost  like  coarse,  unstarched 
muslin,  and  a  veil  of  the  same,  with  necklaces 
of  brass  beads :  the  mother  had  solid  silver 
bracelets ;  but  the  daughter  had  nothing  but 
glass  beads  for  her  share.  They  departed  at 
last,  well  satisfied  with  their  day;  and  though 


ZEYNAB. 


259 


I  had  not  been  able  to  do  them  any  gcod  on 
this  occasion,  owing  to  the  old  lady's  excessive 
fondness  for  talking,  which  made  it  useless  to 
read,  yet  the  keeping  up  the  acquaintance 
was  very  important,  as  giving  one  hopes  of 
making  way  by  degrees. 

It  seemed  that  this  girl's  remaining  unmar- 
ried later  than  is  customary  (for  she  could  not 
be  less  than  seventeen,  even  allowing  for 
Egyptians  looking  older  for  their  age  than  we 
do)  was  a  special  mercy;  as,  had  she  been 
removed  to  any  distance  and  occupied  with 
the  cares  of  a  young  family,  it  is  scarcely  likely 
that  I  could  have  found  her  out,  or  that  her 
interest  in  the  renewal  of  the  acquaintance 
would  have  been  so  strong.  Remembering 
the  vain  attempts  made  to  discover  her  for 
some  time,  and  the  trifling  circumstance  which 
was  the  means  of  her  being  found  (the 
mother  told  me  while  at  dinner  that  it  was 
from  my  having  described  the  colour  of  her 
eyes,  which  are  not  black  like  most  Egyptians'), 
I  feel  deeply  thankful  for  the  opportunity 


200 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


thus  granted,  and  cannot  doubt  that  it  was 
given  in  answer  to  prayer.  He  whose  eye  is 
over  all  things  in  heaven  and  earth  saw  that 
there  were  many  peasant  maidens  in  this  little 
hamlet,  but  to  one  was  His  messenger  sent : 
perhaps  among  all  the  Zeynabs  there,  this  was 
the  one  most  ready  to  receive  something  of 
the  truth :  at  all  events,  her  heart  is  open  to 
feel  affection  for  a  stranger  and  foreigner,  and, 
by  His  blessing,  that  affection  may  prove  the 
door  of  entrance  for  better  things  than  earthly 
friendship. 


ZEYNAB  AGAIN. 


261 


CHAPTER  XXI. 

ZEYNAB  AGAIN. 

OTfj^/HE  next  occasion  on  which  I  visited  my 
lUJ^I  young  friend  on  the  borders  of  the  de- 
sert was  about  the  middle  of  Eamadan.  The 
air  in  that  neighbourhood  is  delightfully  pure 
and  healthful ;  so  that  the  distance  did  not  de- 
ter me  from  going  there  more  frequently  than 
to  nearer  spots.  The  green  clover  and  young 
corn  seemed  actually  to  run  up  into  the  bare 
sand  of  the  desert, — so  close  are  vegetation 
and  barrenness  in  this  region.  Doubtless,  if 
irrigation  were  carried  further,  the  wilderness 
would  be  changed  into  a  fruitful  field.  The 
water,  running  in  its  small  clear  rills,  and  the 
luxuriant  vegetation  following  it  wherever  it 
went,  was  a  sight  I  never  wearied  of,  and 


262 


CHILD-LIFL  IN  EGYPT. 


which  naturally  suggested  the  comparison  of 
the  fruits  of  Christian  life  following  wherever 
the  water  of  life  flows.  In  such  a  moral  wil- 
derness as  Egypt,  how  often  one  longs  to  see 
more  labourers  at  work,  making  channels,  as 
it  were,  for  the  water,  which  Christ  alone  can 
bestow,  to  fertilize  the  barren  ground  ! 

The  first  afternoon  I  could  spare,  I  set  out 
to  pay  a  visit  to  Zeynab.  Though  this  month 
of  fasting  is  not  very  favourable  for  talking  to 
people,  yet  I  did  not  wish  to  let  so  long  a 
period  pass  by.  I  found  her  keeping  house, 
alone  with  her  little  nephew.  The  school- 
matron  was  with  me,  having  begged  so  much 
to  come  that  I  did  not  like  to  refuse  her, 
although  far  more  of  a  hindrance  than  a  help 
on  visits  to  the  poor,  as  she  was  very  fond  of 
religious  discussions,  and  talked  so  fast,  using 
many  words  I  did  not  understand,  that  I  was 
in  constant  fear  of  hex  teaching  something 
wrong. 

There  is  no  dislike  to  the  reading  of  the 
Scriptures  among  those  of  her  church,  as  far 


ZEYNAB  AGAIN. 


263 


as  I  could  judge :  they  seem,  on  the  contrary, 
willing  to  receive  it,  if  able  to  read.  But  this 
poor  woman  was  quite  at  the  mercy  of  her 
priest,  being  so  ignorant,  and  believed,  as  of 
equal  authority  with  Scripture,  a  store  of  the 
most  absurd  monkish  legends  :  I  very  rarely, 
therefore,  took  her  with  me  into  the  poor 
people's  houses.  When  I  could  get  in  a  word, 
by  a  pause  in  the  old  lady's  chattering,  I  asked 
Zeynab  about  prayer,  and  found  that  she  and 
her  mother  actually  went  through  the  five 
prescribed  forms  of  prayer,  like  the  men, — a 
practice  not  observed  by  Moslim  women  in 
general.  I  remarked  this;  and  she  replied 
that  very  few  did  so, — that  most  women  never 
prayed.  "  But  we  do,"  she  added,  with  a  little 
air  of  pride, — which  was  not  strange,  for  it  is 
looked  on  quite  as  an  act  of  merit  in  women. 
I  tried  to  show  her  the  nature  of  real  prayer ; 
and  she  seemed  much  interested  in  religious 
subjects,  and  quite  ready  to  speak  and  listen, 
only  that  the  poor  matron's  not  very  judicious 
remarks  sometimes  interrupted  us.    The  ne- 


264  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


phew,  little  Salem,  a  fine  boy  .ibout  two  yeum 
old;  was,  meantime,  kept  from  disturbing  by 
my  maid,  who  good-naturedly  amused  him. 
His  young  aunt  seemed  very  proud  of  his 
broken  phrases  and  infantine  ways,  just  as 
aunts  are  wont  to  be  in  our  country ;  and  it 
was  entertaining  to  note  the  resemblances  and 
differences  of  his  little  remarks  to  those  of 
children  at  home.  "Where  is  father,  Salem?" 
says  the  aunt.  "  With  the  camels,"  stammers 
the  boy,  pointing  with  his  little  hand  towards 
the  door.  "Ah!  where  are  the  camels?  Can 
Salem  see  camels?"  At  this  Salem  jumps  up, 
and  begins  making  the  clicking  sound  used  by 
the  camel-drivers,  brandishing  a  twig,  and  try- 
ing to  lisp  out  something  about  "go  to  father 
and  camels." 

I  asked  Zeynab  to  come  out  and  sit  under 
the  trees  at  the  sacchia,  as  it  was  close  in  the 
cabin,  and  she  willingly  brought  her  young 
charge  thither :  a  young  friend  of  her  a 
joined  us,  and  both  girls  listened  attentively 
while  I  read  to  them  a  story  from  the  gospel. 


ZEYNAB  AGAIN.- 


265 


I  was  sorry  not  to  be  able  to  offer  them  even 
an  orange,  by  way  of  refreshment,  but  did  not 
like  to  tempt  them  to  break  the  fast,  as  it 
would  expose  them  to  persecution,  and  is,  after 
all,  a  matter  of  indifference  in  itself,  unless  so 
far  as  regarded  in  the  light  of  an  act  merito- 
rious in  God's  sight.  I  always  told  the  poor 
women  that  God  did  not  command  people  to 
go  without  food  all  day  for  a  month,  and  that 
he  was  really  angry  when  wicked  words  came 
from  our  mouths,  not  when  we  put  bread  into 
them ;  but  I  never  urged  them  to  break  Ra- 
madan. 

On  one  of  my  visits  to  Zeynab's  village  I 
took  an  English  lady  with  me,  who,  though 
she  could  not  understand  the  language,  was 
anxious  to  see  the  interior  of  a  native  dwell- 
ing. It  was  warm  weather,  and  we  had  ridden 
out  to  breakfast;  for  the  earlier  people  can 
get  out  the  better,  when  the  winter  is  over 
and  the  sun  is  beginning  to  assert  his  power. 
We  took  our  coffee  under  the  tamarisks,  and 
then  went  to  the  neighbouring  cluster  of  mud 

23 


266 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


huts,  where  I  wa,s  now  scaicely  looked  on  as  a 
stranger.  Zeynab  and  her  mother  were  both 
at  home,  and  cordially  welcomed  me  and  my 
friend.  After  some  chat,  and  a  profusion  of 
compliments  from  the  good  mother,  who  is 
great  in  that  line,  I  at  length  produced  my 
book,  and  offered  to  read.  Zeynab  was  willing, 
as  indeed  she  always  seemed  to  be,  having  an 
evident  interest  in  the  subject  of  religion  ;  her 
younger  sister,  and  a  girl,  who  was,  she  told 
me,  a  very  dear  friend,  joined  us,  and  they  all 
listened  very  attentively. 

About  a  month  before  I  left  Cairo,  Zeynab 
came  to  pay  me  a  visit  by  herself;  she  wanted 
a  bandage  I  had  promised  her  for  a  swelled 
knee  of  some  kind,  and  obtained  her  mother's 
leave  to  come  to  my  house  alone.  The  mother 
came  to  town  with  her,  but  was  obliged  to  go 
and  sell  something  or  other  elsewhere,  and 
actually  trusted  the  girl  to  stay  all  the  morning 
at  the  house  of  a  Christian  and  foreigner,  and 
to  return  by  herself,  when  I  liked  to  send  her 
home.    A  greater  proof  of  confidence  could 


ZEYNAB  AGAIN. 


267 


hardly  be.  A  Moslim  woman  to  trust  her 
girl  in  a  strange  house,  without  her  watchful 
eye,  at  such  a  distance  from  her  residence, 
was  no  light  thing;  for  to  leave  their  own 
village,  if  in  the  country,  or  their  own  "  quar- 
ter," if  inhabitants  of  the  town,  unless  accom- 
panied by  the  mother,  is  what  an  Egyptian 
girl  is  seldom  allowed  to  do ;  indeed,  many  in 
the  town,  old  as  well  as  young,  never  quit  their 
own  quarter,  as  I  believe.  In  the  country 
there  is  more  freedom,  probably ;  but  still  a 
Christian's  house  three  miles  off  would  have 
been  an  awful  idea  to  Zeynab's  mother  a  year 
ago,  I  dare  say;  now  it  did  not  seem  at  all 
extraordinary  that  her  girl  should  visit  "Sitti 
M."  As  usual,  she  brought  a  present  of  new 
milk,  and  delivered  many  kindly  messages 
and  salutations  from  her  mother;  and  then, 
finding  me  engaged  in  domestic  occupations, 
she  adjusted  her  dark  veil  so  as  to  display  her 
pretty  print  jacket  within,  and  seated  herself 
to  converse  with  me,  while  at  the  same  time 
watching  my  employment  with  no  small  inte- 


268  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


rest.  I  believe  these  poor  Egyptians  '^ould 
learn  more  from  seeing  what  we  do  in  house- 
hold matters,  about  the  importance  of  clean- 
liness and  neatness,  &c.,  than  by  any  precepts 
we  could  possibly  give  them  on  the  subject. 
"What  is  that  for?  Why  do  you  do  that?" 
they  will  ask,  as  they  look  on  with  good- 
humoured  surprise.  Nothing  seems  more  to 
strike  the  women  as  a  happy  and  novel  idea 
than  the  putting  on  an  apron  when  engaged 
in  any  occupation  likely  to  soil  the  dress ; 
they  perform  every  thing,  whether  cookery, 
or  sweeping  a  room,  or  washing  vessels,  &c, 
all  without  any  protection,  and,  therefore, 
generally  look  slatternly  enough  after  them. 

When  we  returned  to  the  sitting-room,  I 
took  advantage  of  having  her  without  her 
garrulous  parent  to  endeavour  to  give  her  a 
little  instruction  in  higher  matters, — saying, 
"Look,  Zeynab,  my  child;  I  shall  be  obliged 
to  leave  you  before  long,  and  I  wish  to  read 
you  something  before  I  go  away.  I  fear  you 
are  forgetting  all  I  have  told  you:  try  to  re- 


ZEYKA3. 


2G9 


collect  it  when  I  am  far  from  you."  Zeynab 
promised,  and  assured  me  she  would  not  forget, 
again  and  again.  I  then  proposed  to  read  from 
the  angeel  (Gospel),  saying  that  I  had  before 
read  to  her  some  of  the  wonders  and  miracles 
of  Jesus  Christ,  and  that  I  wished  her  now  to 
hear  some  of  his  conversation, — his  teaching, — 
and  that  I  would  read  to  her  how  he  taught 
a  man  who  came  to  him  by  night  to  ask  ques- 
tions. She  appeared  pleased,  and  seated  her- 
self at  my  feet,  looking  up  with  a  face  full  of 
intelligent  interest,  and  listened  attentively 
while  I  read  the  third  chapter  of  St.  John's 
Gospel  down  to  the  end  of  our  Lord's  conver- 
sation with  Nicodemus, — explaining,  as  well  as 
I  was  able,  as  we  went,  and  endeavouring  to 
show  her  the  need  of  a  change  of  heart,  and 
to  give  her  some  notion  of  the  work  of  the 
Holy  Spirit  here  spoken  of.  She  paid  earnest 
heed,  as  any  one  must  have  seen  who  had 
looked  at  her  expressive,  wondering  face ;  and 
though  I  could  not  understand  all  the  many 
questions  and  remarks  she  made,  it  was  evi- 

23* 


270 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


dent,  from  her  asking  so  many,  that  her  mind 
had  in  some  degree  taken  hold  of  the  subject. 
She  understood  all  I  said  to  her,  I  believe,  as 
far  as  the  words  went;  for  several  months  of 
study  and  practice  had,  of  course,  given  me 
much  more  fluency  than  when  our  acquaint- 
ance had  begun.  Still,  it  was  but  a  few  grains 
that  could  be  sown  in  this  uncultivated  soil, 
with  such  limited  opportunities, — any  thing 
like  constant  or  regular  instruction  being 
impossible.  On  this  occasion  I  had  Zeynab 
all  to  myself,  and  she  stayed  three  hours  at  the 
house,  and  would  even  have  stayed  longer, 
but  that  I  was  then  obliged  to  go  out;  and, 
after  being  refreshed  with  a  simple  repast  of 
bread  and  dried  fruit  in  the  schoolroom,  she 
took  leave,  entreating  me  to  come  and  see  her 
at  the  village  before  going  away;  which  I 
promised  to  do,  but  illness  prevented  me. 

I  was  so  fearful  of  inducing  any  one  to  ac- 
quiesce from  a  wish  to  please,  or  from  a  partial 
conviction — a  sort  of  half-belief — when  the 
truth  has  not  really  been  received  into  the 


ZEYANB. 


271 


mind,  that  I  have  never  pressed  Zeynab  to 
tell  me  how  far  she  believed  what  I  told  her; 
only  trying  to  make  sure  that  she  understood 
what  I  said.  Very  often  she  voluntarily  said, 
"That  is  good;"  or,  if  I  said,  "Is  that  true?" 
would  reply,  "It  is  true;  it  certainly  is  true!" 

But  whether  the  intellect  alone  is  yet 
touched,  or  whether  the  seed  has  taken  root 
in  the  heart,  I  cannot  venture  to  pronounce: 
God  knows.  I  can  only  say  with  certainty 
that  she  is  not  exactly  where  she  was  a  year 
ago;  and  most  earnestly  would  I  recommend 
her  to  the  prayers  of  any  Christian  reader 
who  may  feel  an  interest  in  her,  after  hearing 
how  the  lost  one  was  found  at  length.  I  was 
anxious  to  find  her,  to  do  her  good  if  possible ; 
and  after  "many  days"  the  search  was  suc- 
cessful. Surely  we  may  hope  that  the  Good 
Shepherd  is  also  looking  for  her,  and  that  he 
will  find  and  bring  home  this  lost  sheep  of  the 
wilderness ;  for  how  cold  and  feeble  is  our  love 
for  souls,  compared  to  His  who  gave  His  life 
for  the  sheep ! 


272  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


CHAPTER  XXII. 

THE  BOYS'  SUNDAY-SCHOOL. 

IAT  can  be  done  for  the  boys?  was 
a  question  frequently  before  my 
thoughts;  for  in  my  immediate  neighbour- 
hood they  appeared  a  most  neglected  set  of 
beings.  Nor  did  schools  of  a  superior  class 
meet  the  difficulty.  Nothing  can  supply  the 
place  of  a  ragged  school  in  large  cities, — by 
which  we  understand  a  school  where  the  lowest 
and  poorest  children,  whose  parents  will  not 
01  cannot  pay  for  their  teaching,  and  in  a  ma- 
jority of  cases  do  not  care  whether  they  have 
it  or  not,  may  be  collected  and  taught  the  bare 
essentials  of  education,  such  as  Scripture  and 
reading,  with  the  rudiments  of  some  other 
things,  as  far  as  circumstances  permit.  Where 


THE  boys'  sundai -school.  273 


a  day-school  of  this  kind  is  not  practicable, 
an  evening  class  is  often  attained;  and,  at  all 
events,  a  Sunday-school  of  some  sort  or  other 
may  be  managed  in  most  places,  because  Chris- 
tian persons  occupied  all  the  week  are  often 
ready  to  give  an  hour  or  two  of  their  Sunday 
for  the  gratuitous  instruction  of  the  ignorant. 
The  weekdays  were  occupied  with  the  girls' 
school,  and  I  had  no  funds  at  my  disposal  to 
start  a  similar  one  for  boys;  but  to  collect  a 
few  of  these  after  service  on  Sunday,  and  thus 
make  a  beginning  which  might  hereafter  be 
increased  into  a  daily  school,  seemed  by  no 
mean3  an  impossible  thing  to  attempt,  and  the 
rest  of  Saturday  made  one  fresher  for  such  work 
on  Sunday.  The  poor  boy  who  had  wished  tc 
be  a  girl,  in  order  to  be  admitted  to  the  school- 
festival,  was,  unluckily  for  him,  no  longer 
within  reach :  perhaps  his  father  thought 
change  of  air  might  benefit  his  mother's 
tongue  (she  had  been  the  chief  scold  of  the 
q  aarter) :  certain  it  is,  they  were  all  gone,  and 

I  never  again  saw  the  boy  in  the  lanes  near  Bab- 
s 


274 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  E GrYFT. 


el-Bahar.  But  there  were  plenty  of  others  who3e 
names  and  faces  were  familiar  to  me,  most  of 
them  brothers  to  my  girls,  besides  a  more 
changing,  ragged  crew,  the  friends  and  ac- 
quaintance of  my  neighbours,  who  came  from 
time  to  time  to  fight  with  them  for  sugarcanes, 
to  assist  in  the  composition  of  dust-heaps 
(which,  from  the  dryness  of  th©  climate,  are 
more  in  fashion  than  "  mud  pies,"  though 
these  are  manufactured  also  quite  success- 
fully), and  last,  but  not  least,  to  join  in  tor- 
menting a  certain  huge  brown  ram,  which 
looked  exactly  like  a  door-mat  with  a  head 
and  legs  to  it,  and  which  was  driven  up  and 
down  the  lane  by  a  troop  of  little  boys,  till  I 
expected  to  see  it  knock  them  down  and  kill 
them ;  but  the  poor  brute  was  very  gentle,  and 
bore  a  great  deal,  and  they  did  sometimes  feed 
it  with  part  of  their  sugarcanes  (especially  the 
tops,  which  they  could  not  eat) :  so  perhaps  it 
had  not  so  miserable  a  life  as  one  might  have 
supposed.  Some  of  these  boys,  I  found,  went 
to  the  Mohammedan  school,  which  thev  dislike 


THE  BOYS'  SUNDAY-SCHOOL. 


275 


cordially,  being  often  severely  beaten,  and  not 
furnished  with  pictmes  or  amusing  books,  or 
any  thing  that  could  lighten  the  labour  of 
spelling  and  reading.  The  greater  number, 
however,  did  not  go  anywhere,  and  did  not 
know  their  letters. 

I  spoke  to  some,  whom  I  met  playing  at  the 
door,  one  day,  and  asked  if  they  would  like  to 
come  to  my  house  and  see  some  pictures,  and 
hear  histories  of  Moses  and  David,  and  learn 
something  out  of  God's  book.  Two  or  three 
said  they  would ;  others  laughed ;  and  the 
smallest  stared  wonderingly,  without  saying  a 
word.  There  was  one  little  fellow  whose 
roguish  face  was  quite  familial' ;  I  often  saw 
him  making  mimic  shops  with  bits  of  broken 
crockery  upon  the  door-step,  in  company  with 
one  or  two  little  girls,  and,  as  he  moved  hia 
toys  to  let  the  owner  of  the  house  go  in  or 
come  out,  he  always  used  to  laugh  merrily 
and  beg  leave  to  kiss  my  hand  and  ask  if 
he  might  not  come  to  school.  I  occasionally 
dropped  nuts  or  dates  out  of  the  window  to 


276 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


him  and  some 'young  companions  in  the  even- 
ing, which  made  them  exceedingly  happy;  and 
that,  perhaps,  was  one  reason  for  the  friendly 
feeling  evinced  by  this  boy,  whose  demonstra- 
tions were  quite  diverting.  He  had  a  slight 
squint  of  one  eye,  but  it  seemed  only  to  en- 
hance the  humorous  expression  of  his  face, 
as  he  would  stand  by  the  donkey  when  I  was 
preparing  to  mount  it  for  a  ride,  saying, 
"  Now,  teacher,  when  may  I  come  to  school  ?" 

I  told  him,  one  day,  that  I  was  going  to  have 
Sunday-school  for  the  boys ;  all  the  week  wa,s 
for  the  girls,  but  they  should  have  school  on  one 
day  if  they  would  come.  I  also  told  the  girls 
who  had  brothers  to  let  them  know.  "While 
trying  to  get  pupils,  on  one  hand,  it  was  neces- 
sary to  get  teachers,  on  the  other,  as  a  man 
would  be  necessary,  if  any  big  boys  came,  to 
keep  order,  &c;  and,  besides,  the  year  was 
already  far  advanced ;  April  had  begun,  and  1 
had  not  quite  two  months  more  to  stay,  and  must 
leave  successors.  There  was,  however,  no  diffi- 
culty in  finding  assistants.    A  gentleman  con- 


TF.E  BOYS'  SUNDAY-SCHOOL.  277 


nected  Wxth  the  Malta  College  Cairo  school  pro- 
mised to  ask  his  head-teacher,  a  Protestant 
Copt,  to  come  now  and  then ;  and  with  the 
Moslim  missionary,  and  one  or  two  other  Pro- 
testant Syrian  friends,  there  was  no  fear  of  my 
not  having  some  one  or  other  each  Sunday  to 
assist  in  teaching. 

When  Sunday  arrived,  finding  no  boys  made 
their  appearance,  I  went  down  into  the  lane  to 
look  for  them ;  but,  though  it  usually  swarmed, 
on  this  morning,  as  if  on  purpose  to  try  our 
faith  and  patience,  not  a  boy  was  in  sight ; 
only  a  girl  was  visible ;  she  was  playing  in  a 
little  heap  of  rubbish,  all  by  herself. 

"SaidaF'I  cried.  She  came  immediately 
at  my  call,  being  one  of  the  scholars.  I  asked 
her  if  she  would  find  her  own  brother,  if  she 
had  one,  and,  if  not,  call  some  of  her  school- 
fellows and  send  them  to  find  their's.  She 
looked  rather  bewildered,  not  having,  appa- 
rently, heard  of  the  scheme,  though  it  had 
been  mentioned  more  than  once  in  school. 
However,  she  trotted  off  at  last ;  and,  mean- 

24 


278  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


time,  I  turned  into  the  main  street,  which  was 
very  quiet  at  this  the  hottest  time  of  day.  I 
would  gladly  have  fixed  a  later  hour,  for  I 
feared  many  boys  would  be  sleeping  about  this 
time  in  the  hot  months ;  but  I  did  not  like  to 
choose  an  hour  which  would  interfere  with 
either  the  English  or  American  services,  on 
the  teachers'  account. 

In  the  street  were  a  group  of  boys  assem- 
bled at  a  doorway,  quarrelling:  they  were 
mostly  quite  little  boys,  from  three  or  four 
up  to  ten  years  of  age,  by  their  appearance. 
Two  women  sat  by,  without  interfering  in  the 
least.  I  went  up  and  gently  remonstrated 
with  them  for  disputing,  and  asked  them,  in- 
stead of  beating  one  another,  to  come  with  me 
and  learn  something  good  at  the  school  yonder. 
They  were  astonished,  and  stopped  quarrelling 
1  to  listen. 

One  of  the  mothers  said,  "  You  are  the 
teacher,  are  you  not?" 

"  Yes,  for  the  girls ;  but  I  wish  to  let  the 


THE  BOYS'  SUNDAY-SCHOOL.  279 

boys  have  a  little  teaching  also,  for  I  love  them 
as  well  as  girls." 

I  explained  to  them  that  for  an  hour  or  two 
on  this  day  there  was  to  be  a  school  for  the 
boys,  and  that  some  kind  gentlemen  had  pro- 
mised to  teach  them  out  of  God's  book,  if  they 
would  come  to  my  house.  The  women  said  it 
was  very  good,  though  without  expressing  any 
lively  desire  that  their  sons  should  learn; 
which  I  could  not  expect, — that  they  did  not 
oppose  it  was  all  I  could  hope;  for,  after  all,  it 
did  require  some  confidence  to  send  their  chil- 
dren with  a  stranger,  of  a  different  nation  and 
religion,  on  her  bare  word.  But  they  told  the 
boys  to  go  if  they  wished;  and  one  patted  her 
little  son  on  the  shoulder,  and  encouraged  him 
to  go,  saying,  "  She  will  not  beat  you."  Two 
went  away,  looking  rather  sulky ;  but  the  rest 
came  with  me;  and  I  brought  them  in  tri- 
umphantly. 

At  the  door  we  met  a  girl  dragging  a  young 
brother  in  great  pride,  and  she  was  followed 
by  two  or  three  more  with  their  brothers,— 


280 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


coaxing  and  pulling  them  along,  and  trying  to 
reassure  them  by  patting  them,  and  telling 
of  the  pleasures  and  advantages  of  school, 
while  the  poor  boys  hung  back,  and  tried  to  free 
their  arms,  half  laughing,  as  if  a  little  ashamed 
of  their  fears.  It  was  a  curious  sight  thus  to 
see  the  despised  part  of  the  population  using 
the  powers  which  a  little  smattering  of  supe- 
rior knowledge  had  given  them,  trying  to 
bring  their  brothers  to  get  a  share,  and  in  the 
most  affectionate  manner  persuading  them  not 
to  be  afraid. 

Accustomed  to  the  harsh  treatment  in  vogue 
at  Moslim  schools,  the  boys  were  much  more 
timid  than  the  girls  had  been  at  first.  Two 
or  three  who  had  been  coaxed  inside  the  door 
suddenly  lost  heart,  and,  crying  out,  "  They 
will  beat  us !"  turned  and  fled  precipitately. 
The  others  came  up  and  stayed ;  but  one  little 
fellow,  having  only  one  eye,  and  a  thick  shag 
of  hair  hanging  from  his  head  (which  gave 
him  a  strange  appearance  here,  where  the  boys' 
hair  is  usually  shaved),  only  consented  to  ^tay 


THE  BOYS'  SUNDAY-SCHOOL.  281 

on  the  condition  of  being  allowed  to  keep  the 
door  wide  open  by  sitting  on  the  ground  with 
his  back  against  it ;  so  that  at  any  sign  of  foul 
play  he  might  get  off,  as  I  suppose.  He  gave 
no  motive  for  this  singular  choice  of  a  seat, 
but  said  if  we  did  not  let  him  sit  there  he 
would  not  remain. 

They  were  a  ragged  and  dirty  crew,  as 
may  be  imagined.  I  can  scarcely  say  how 
many  we  had  that  first  day,  as  two  or  three 
went  and  others  came ;  but  I  think  nine 
stayed.  These  were  clad  in  blue  or  white 
shirts,  or  rather  garments  which  had  formerly 
been  so  but  were  now  nearly  undistinguish- 
able ;  and  cotton  caps  on  their  little  cropped 
heads.  Certainly,  dress  had  not  done  much 
for  them ;  but  they  had  bright,  intelligent 
eyes,  which  lit  up  as  they  glanced  curiously  at 
the  pictures  on  the  wail.  The  younger  ones 
all  clamoured  to  stay  with  the  lady;  and  I 
divided  them  from  the  older  boys,  giving  these 
over  to  the  young  Copt,  who  was  my  assistant 
that  day.    The  little  fellows  sat  in  a  row  be- 

24* 


282  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


fore  me :  all  were  Mo-slims  but  one,  named 
George  (Jerjas,  or,  in  Cairo,  Gergas).  He  was 
a  friend  of  the  others,  however,  and  placed 
little  Mohammed  (a  fat,  round-faced  little 
Moslim,  of  four  years  old)  on  his  lap,  that  he 
might  better  see  the  picture  I  was  showing 
them,  of  the  finding  of  Moses.  I  talked  to 
them,  and  asked  questions,  and  amused  rather 
than  taught,  this  first  day;  the  great  poin 
being  to  induce  them  to  get  the  habit  of 
coming  here  on  Sundays.  We  only  kept 
them  an  hour,  fearing  to  tire  them. 

The  second  Sunday  we  had*  thirteen  scholars. 
Before  my  assistant  arrived,  seven  boys  had 
come;  and  I  was  so  afraid  of  their  running 
away,  if  left  to  wait  outside,  that  I  hurried 
down  and  admitted  them,  though  it  was  before 
the  right  time.  People  who  have  no  clocks 
cannot  be  very  exact.  Before  long,  the  girls 
brought  another  batch  of  scholars ;  and  at  the 
same  time  a  Syrian  friend,  belonging  to  an 
English  mercantile  house,  came  to  my  aid, 
and,  being  accustomed  to  Sunday-school  work 


CrfjtltJ  2Ufc  in  egnnt. 


Before  long,  the  girls  brought  another  batch  of  scholars. 


p.  282. 


THE  BOYS'  SUNDAY-SCHOOL.  283 


in  Alexandria,  proved  a  good  teacher.  He 
took  the  older  boys  and  taught  them  a  text  of 
Scripture,  besides  reading  and  explaining  a 
short  portion  and  showing  them  pictures. 
I  did  the  same,  only  omitting  the  reading  to 
the  little  fellows,  and,  instead  of  it,  teaching 
them  a  few  letters  of  the  alphabet. 

By  degrees  a  more  regular  system  may  be 
introduced;  but  till  a  set  of  children  are  got 
into  the  habit  of  attending  every  week,  we 
cannot  make  it  more  than  a  class:  a  real 
school  may  follow  this  little  beginning. 

From  this  time  we  had  a  few  lads  every 
Sunday, — sometimes  ten  or  twelve,  sometimes 
only  three  or  four;  but  no  Sunday  passed 
without  at  least  a  few  coming. 

As  Sunday  is,  of  course,  in  no  way  different 
from  other  days  to  Mosiim  boys,  they  often 
forgot  it  at  first,  and  some  came  on  Monday, 
instead ;  others  got  an  idle  fit,  and  went  off  to 
play  in  some  neighbouring  lane,  md  let  the 
hour  pass  by.  Still,  a  beginning  was  made :  the 
small  end  of  the  wedge  was  inserted  into  the  log. 


284 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


One  day,  three  quite  big  boys,  of  sixteen 
or  seventeen  years  of  age,  came  in,  curious  to 
know  what  was  going  on,  and  consented  to 
stay  and  listen  to  a  chapter  of  the  gospel  read 
and  explained  by  the  missionary.  Another 
time  we  had  several  little  creatures  of  four 
or  five;  but  Shoh's  younger  brother,  Abdul 
Nebby  (the  servant  of  the  prophet),  was  gene- 
rally an  attendant  on  the  class;  and  also 
another  called  Achmet, — both  lively,  handsome 
boys,  about  ten  or  eleven,  full  of  spirit  and 
fun,  and  not  averse  to  instruction.  Being  the 
children  of  near  neighbours,  and  the  brothers 
of  my  own  girls,  they  had  some  personal  ac- 
quaintance with  me,  and  were  always  ready 
with  a  friendly  salutation  if  I  passed  them  in 
the  street.  My  little  squint-eyed  friend,  whose 
name  I  forget,  used  often  to  call  out,  "I  re- 
member Sunday,"  with  a  significant  smile,  if 
I  was  looking  out  of  window,  or  pull  at  my 
hand  or  skirt,  if  we  met  at  the  door.  And 
though  I  was  obliged  gently  to  withdraw  the 
dress,  sometimes,  observing,  "You  must  wash 


THE  BOYS'  SUNDAY-SCHOOL.  285 


your  hands,  my  boy,  before  you  touch  my 
clothes;  see  how  dirty  they  are!"  he  did  not 
seem  painfully  daunted  by  the  rebuke,  but 
laughed  and  skipped  round  me  in  great  glee, 
saying,  "You  are  my  mother!" 

It  may  be  that  we  shall  not  see  very  distinct 
results  for  a  long  time  from  this  and  similar 
attempts;  but  how  few  among  Sunday-scholars 
in  our  own  more  favoured  country  give  their 
teachers  evidence  of  their  being  really  Chris- 
tians in  heart  as  well  as  name!  We  know 
how  often  the  seed  sown  is  found  after  many 
years ;  and  so  it  may  be  here,  where  the  diffi- 
culty attending  the  sowing  is  so  much  greater. 
"We  would  not  be  satisfied  with  a  little,  but  we 
must  thankfully  feel  that  even  this  little  is 
better  than  none, — that  if  our  boys  have  but 
a  dim  and  shadowy  idea  of  Jesus  Christ  the 
Saviour,  it  is  better  than  nothing,  and  that 
God  may  one  day  send  help  to  develop  further 
the  little  knowledge  they  have  gained,  in  some 
way  we  cannot  possibly  foresee.  One  has  often 
observed  a  tiny  green  shoot  coming  out  of  a 


286 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


crack  in  a  rock  or  great  stone,  and  wondered 
how  the  feeble  germ  of  life  could  be  supported 
in  so  hard  a  soil;  but  gradually  the  chinks 
enlarge  as  the  roots  spread,  and  they  make  a 
way  for  themselves,  little  by  little  drinking  in 
the  dew  from  heaven,  till  at  last  a  vigorous 
shrub  is  seen  growing  out  of  the  barren  rock. 
Thus,  when  working  in  a  hard  and  dry  soil,  we 
must  take  advantage  of  every  opening,  however 
small,  and,  as  it  were,  drop  a  seed  into  every 
crevice  in  the  rock. 

When  prevented  by  an  attack  of  illness  from 
taking  an  active  part  in  the  Sunday-class,  it 
was  carried  on  by  my  friends;  and  since  my 
quitting  Cairo  I  have  had  a  letter,  telling  me 
that  they  had  assembled  fifteen  boys  every 
Sunday  since  I  left.  Of  course,  their  numbers 
will  vary;  but,  by  God's  grace,  I  trust,  the  class 
will  be  kept  on,  and  gradually  increased,  until 
we  get  a  regular  "  ragged  school"  for  the  boys. 


CONCLUSION. 


287 


CHAPTER  XXIII. 

CONCLUSION. 

^^jpAY  had  set  in  ;  spring  had  long  van- 
Ct*fJ»  ished,  and  burning  summer  reigned  in 
the  land ;  for  May  in  Egypt  is  not  like  that 
capricious  month  in  our  country, — sometimes 
fair,  smiling  and  flowery,  sometimes  cold  and 
rainy, — as  if  winter  were  more  than  half 
inclined  to  return  and  send  back  the  swallows 
in  disgrace,  kill  the  apple-blossoms,  and  shut 
up  the  invalids  again  in  their  chambers.  In 
Cairo  we  do  at  least  know  pretty  certainly 
what  to  expect,  and  can  be  prepared  for  it 
without  any  fear  that  thin  dresses  will  be  use- 
less :  dust  and  heat  are  regular  enough  in 
their  arrival,  and  May  has  even  much  more 
of  the  hot  wind  than  June,  which  is  said  by 


288 


CH1LD-LTFF.  JN  EGYPT. 


vitie  experienced  to  be  less  trying,  on  that  ac- 
count. When  I  left,  it  was  the  end  of  May, 
and  the  hot  blasts  were  still  raging,  with 
shorter  intervals  than  usual.  The  thermo- 
meter was  96°  in  the  shade  of  one  of  the 
coolest  houses  in  the  town,  but  the  hot  wind 
made  it  virtually  much  hotter,  from  its  parch- 
ing effects.  Except  for  a  short  distance,  or  in 
shaded  streets,  it  was  hardly  safe  to  go  out  in 
the  middle  of  the  day, — at  least,  for  any  not 
natives  of  the  country ;  and  every  one  said  so 
long  a  duration  of  heat  was  very  uncommon 
and  very  trying  (we  had  nine  or  ten  days  with- 
out any  respite,  three  or  four  being  the  usual 
time,  followed  by  at  least  two  cool,  pleasant 
days).  However,  so  it  was;  and  from  this 
cause,  as  well  as  an  attack  of  illness,  it  became 
necessary  for  me  to  give  up  several  little  plans 
which  were  to  have  been  carried  out  this 
month.  One  of  these  had  been  to  get  a  sort 
of  meeting  of  the  poor  women,  chiefly  the 
scholars'  mothers ;  but  on  this  account  it  was 
out  of  my  power  to  assemble  them,  as  I  had 


CONCLUSION. 


289 


hoped  to  do.  Any  thing  like  a  regular  period- 
ical meeting,  I  found,  was  not  likely  to  suc- 
ceed just  yet,  being  so  contrary  to  all  their 
habits  and  ways :  so  that  visiting  them  at 
home,  and  getting  half  a  dozen  at  a  time  to- 
gether, as  opportunity  might  allow,  seemed  all 
that  could  be  managed  during  the  winter  and 
spring.  But  a  meeting  before  any  one's  de- 
parture, or  to  welcome  a  friend  back  after  an 
absence,  is  quite  intelligible,  and  excites  no 
suspicions;  and  several  had  promised  to  come, 
— when  illness  hindered  this  plan  as  well  as 
others.  But,  in  spite  of  these  and  some  other 
hindrances,  there  was  great  cause  for  thank- 
fulness in  the  retrospection  which  one  naturally 
indulges  in  when  winding  up  any  sort  of  busi- 
ness at  the  end  of  a  "  season"  and  preparing 
to  quit  the  scene  of  labour  for  a  time. 

That  the  little  school  held  on  its  way  was  no 
small  cause  of  gratitude ;  for  how  easily  might 
such  an  attempt  have  been  nipped  in  the  bud ! 
Nor  had  our  winter  been  uneventful :  public 
affairs  had  seen  great  changes,  which  might 

T  2i> 


290  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


have  seriously  affected  resident  Christians,  and 
did  cause  them  considerable  anxiety  at  one 
time.  The  Viceroy's  death,  and  the  succession 
of  a  new  Pasha  to  the  dignity,  made  every 
European,  and  even  every  Copt,  feel  uneasy, 
until  they  could  see  that  their  rights  were  not 
likely  to  be  injured.  Then  came  the  Sultan's 
visit  (not  very  long  after  the  first  opening  of 
the  Sunday-school).  It  made  a  great  bustle, 
and  called  forth,  not  loyalty  (which  people 
seldom  feel  for  a  foreign  and  non-resident 
monarch),  but  a  good  deal  of  parade  and 
show;  and  it  excited  some  fear  and  some 
curiosity.  "Why  the  brief  visit  was  paid  was 
not  known;  and  the  conjectures  about  it  were 
numerous.  However,  we  Christians  were  left 
in  peace,  and  our  schools  undisturbed :  there- 
fore we  were  most  thankful,  for  our  part ;  and 
as  to  the  natives,  their  interest  and  curiosity 
quickly  died  away,  and  the  royal  progress  was, 
apparently,  forgotten  as  soon  as  the  lamps  for 
the  illumination  had  been  taken  away. 

The  splendid  pageantry  came  and  went  like 


CONCLUSION. 


291 


a  scene  in  a  play :  the  officers  riding  through 
the  streets,  their  swords  glittering  with  the 
jewels  on  the  hilts, — the  rich  housings  of 
purple  and  crimson,  heavy  with  gold  and 
silver  fringe,  hanging  from  the  horses'  sides, — 
the  gayly-dressed  slaves, — the  silks  hung  from 
the  windows, — the  torches  carried  before  the 
carriages  by  night, — all  passed  in  a  few  short 
days,  and  left  no  trace,  reminding  one  of  the 
words  of  Scripture. 

It  is  interesting,  to  those  who  are  either 
directly  or  indirectly  occupied  with  sowing  the 
seed  of  heavenly  truth,  to  think  of  the  con- 
trast of  now  and  then,  the  present  and  the 
future,  while  looking  at  the  pageantry  of  some 
such  scene  as  that  of  the  Sultan's  visit,  and 
comparing  it  with  the  mean  and  wretched  ap- 
pearance of  the  group  of  poor  men  assembling 
round  a  Scripture  reader,  for  instance ;  or  with 
the  class  of  ragged  children  clustering  about 
their  teacher,  knowing,  as  they  do,  that  if  the 
good  seed  take  root  in  the  heart  of  the  least 
and  lowest  among  those  little  ones,  he  will 


292 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


stand  iu  the  midst  of  the  unchangeable  bright- 
ness and  glory,  when  the  tinsel  splendour  that 
dazzled  his  childish  eyes  in  bygone  days  has 
passed  away  forever ! 

But  the  reaping-time  is  not  yet;  and  the 
sowing-time  is  often  one  of  tears, — always  one 
of  anxious  labour, — and  demands  much  patient 
waiting,  and  much  faith  in  Him  who  alone  can 
give  the  increase. 

It  was  a  blessing,  in  looking  back  to  the 
small  beginning  of  the  school  here,  and  of  the 
many  difficulties  attending  its  reopening  in 
November  last,  to  think  that  it  was  not  now 
obliged  to  suspend  operations,  even  during  the 
illness  of  the  superintendent  or  temporary 
absence  for  a  longer  period,  as  must  shortly  be 
the  case.  The  Evangelist,  Mr.  Joseph  Shakoor, 
came  every  morning  during  this  last  fortnight 
to  give  a  Bible-lesson  in  my  place ;  and  Teresa 
carried  on  the  spelling  and  reading  afterwards. 
Both  she  and  the  embroideress,  Dimiana,  were 
punctual  in  attendance,  quiet  and  steady,  and 
constantly  came  to  ask  directions  or  report 


CONCLUSION. 


293 


progress  to  me ;  ind  the  young  voices  sounded 
cheerfully  through  the  house  from  an  early 
hour  till  four  o'clock  in  the  afternoon.  The 
scholars  were  better  arranged  than  formerly, — 
the  two  small  class-rooms  having  been  made 
almost  into  one  large  room,  by  the  opening  of 
a  wide  doorway  in  the  partition-wall;  and 
thick  reed-mats  were  hung  at  all  the  windows 
where  the  afternoon  sun  came  in. 

Though  they  seem  thirsty  during  the  pre- 
valence of  hot  winds,  and  are  always  running 
to  the  water-jars,  the  native  children  do  not 
suffer  in  health,  and  are,  I  think,  more  lively 
in  the  month  of  May  than  during  the  short 
period  of  cold  in  winter.  But  as  summer  ad- 
vances, they  feel  the  many  hours  of  intense 
heat ;  and  I  agreed  to  let  them  be  assembled  as 
early  as  possible,  and  dismissed  an  hour  sooner, 
after  this  month, — the  afternoon,  especially 
from  two  o'clock  to  five,  being  the  very  hottest 
time  of  the  day.  After  that  hour  the  beams 
begin  to  slant  and  the  shadows  to  grow  longer; 
ai:d  it  is  beautiful,  when  the  sun  draws  in  his 


294 


CHILD-  LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


fiery  shafts,  to  watch  the  stilling  of  the  air, 
and  the  life  and  activity  of  the  beings  on 
earth,  as  the  orange  glow  spreads  over  the 
sky,  and  the  bright  disk  disappears  behind  the 
palms  opposite  the  windows.  Presently  the 
glory  is  dimmed  for  a  minute  or  two,  and  then 
returns,  brighter  and  purer  in  hues  than  before, 
— like  the  sun's  parting  message  to  the  land. 
It  is  not  a  long  one :  soon  the  apricot  colour 
fades  into  soft  greenish  white,  and  then  the 
blue  haze  of  evening  rapidly  darkens  every 
object.  Meantime  the  old  men  sit  and  sip 
their  coffee  opposite  the  coffee-house;  the 
women  crowd  the  street  with  heavy  water- 
pitchers  on  their  heads;  friendly  greetings 
are  exchanged  between  the  workmen  on  their 
way  home ;  the  flocks  of  goats  are  heard 
bleating,  as  they  come  from  their  daily  ex- 
cursions into  the  country;  while,  above  all 
other  sounds,  the  voices  of  "girls  and  boys 
playing  in  the  streets"  can  be  heard,  full  of 
glee  at  the  welcome  coolness  of  the  evening 
hour.    The  mosquitos,  to  be  sure,  come  out  in 


CONCLUSION. 


295 


armie©  when  the  sun  is  low ;  but  we  have  a 
good  to  counterbalance  this  evil:  the  flies, — 
which  cause  really  more  annoyance,  I  think, 
as  being  so  much  more  numerous,  and  so  impu- 
dent and  pertinacious  in  their  attacks, — these 
all  retire  to  sleep  upon  the  ceiling,  as  regu- 
larly as  chickens  go  to  roost ;  and  it  becomes 
possible  to  write  in  peace,  and  to  read,  with- 
out incessantly  waving  a  fly-flap. 

And  what  of  the  neighbours  formerly  alluded 
to?  Little  change  had  taken  place  in  the 
quarter,  compared  to  what  might  be  found  in 
most  streets  of  a  European  city,  in  the  course 
of  two  years. 

The  Boab's  mud  lean-to  against  the  school- 
house  had  not  existed  on  my  return,  and  he 
had  received  a  polite  request  that  it  might  not 
be  rebuilt:  indeed,  he  and  his  numerous  troop 
of  children  had  obtained  a  somewhat  better 
dwelling  in  the  lane.  The  fruit-seller,  Seid, 
had  gone;  and  his  scolding  wife's  voice  was 
no  more  heard  in  Bab-el-Bahar,  but  enlivened 
8ome  other  quarter.    The  Boab's  eldest  soc, 


296 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYIT. 


Ibraheem,  kept  a  sweetmeat-shop  in  the  fruit- 
stall's  place:  he  appeared  a  steady,  respectable 
young  man ;  and  his  father  made  me  a  very 
fine  speech,  when  taking  leave  of  me  (a  day  or 
two  before  starting),  for  having  patronized 
him,  by  purchasing  a  quantity  of  sweets  from 
him  for  my  school-feast  a  little  while  ago,  as 
well  as  some  which  I  brought  away  as  curiosi- 
ties to  young  relatives  in  Europe.  These  juve- 
niles will  doubtless  recollect  Ibraheem's  dain- 
ties, which  they  approved  highly;  and  the 
pride  of  the  old  Boab  will  be  great  if  he  one 
day  hears  that  his  son's  handiwork  has  actu- 
ally been  all  the  way  over  the  sea  and  been 
eaten  and  praised  by  English  children. 

My  old  acquaintance  Sitt  Haanem,  the  dress- 
maker, had  once  visited  me  in  the  course  of 
the  winter,  and  begged  me  to  come  and  see 
her.  No  one  had  visited  her,  she  said  (i.e.  no 
Christian  lady),  since  her  change  of  residence: 
previously  to  that,  an  English  lady,  who  was 
then  taking  charge  of  Bab-el-Bahar  school, 
had  once  called  on  her;  but  her  husband's 


CONCLUSION. 


297 


death,  and  her  subsequent  removal  t6  the 
other  end  of  the  town,  had  taken  her  out  of 
all  Christian  influence.  I  had,  with  a  great 
deal  of  trouble,  discovered  her  house  at  last, 
but  found  her  absent;  and  it  was  too  far  to 
come  again  on  a  mere  chance.  Now,  how- 
ever, just  a  fortnight  before  my  departure,  she 
came  in  great  joy  to  say  that  she  was  to  be  a 
neighbour  again,  having  returned  to  her  old 
quarters.  She  came  frequently  to  see  me, 
when  she  found  me  confined  to  a  sofa, — the 
Eastern  custom  of  visiting  the  sick  being  car- 
ried out  more  fully  than  is  always  beneficial 
to  the  patient,  though  they  are  most  kindly  in 
feeling  and  intention  :  their  sympathy  for  sick- 
ness, and  the  attentions  shown  to  those  suffer- 
ing in  health,  are  a  very  amiable  trait.  I 
could  not  find  that  Sitt  Haanem  had  made  any 
advances  in  respect  of  religion ;  but  she  was 
very  willing  to  discuss  matters,  had  I  been 
well  enough  for  long  conversations;  and  her 
friendly  feelings  were  evident  enough.  She 
had  grown  very  fat,  and  increased  the  heat 


298  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


which  the  weather  caused,  by  wearing  a  thick 
cloth  jacket,  because  it  was  her  best.  She 
begged  me  to  return  to  Cairo  as  soon  as  pos- 
sible, and  never  to  go  away  any  more,  and 
then  we  could  talk  and  read  a  great  deal. 

And  what  of  Shoh  and  Fatmeh,  our  old 
friends?  Of  the  latter  I  have  little  to  say: 
her  gentle  but  passive  nature  leads  one  at 
first  acquaintance  to  think  her  more  deeply 
impressed  than  she  really  is :  she  feels  all  that 
is  said  at  the  time,  but  one  impression  soon 
effaces  another;  and,  though  affectionate  when- 
ever I  met  her,  she  rarely  now  came  to  the 
house,  as  her  sister  did,  with  no  motive  except 
a  desire  for  instruction  or  sympathy. 

Shoh's  voice  caught  my  ear  one  day  during 
the  last  week  at  Cairo,  sounding  very  angry, 
and  complaining,  in  the  street  below, — first 
with  other  women's  voices,  and  then  alone,  as 
if  she  had  driven  the  rest  from  the  field.  I 
raised  the  window  -blind,  and,  covering  my 
head  (for  the  heat  of  the  sun  was  intense), 
looked  out  into  the  street,  and  saw  her  stand- 


CONCLI BIO*. 


299 


ing  with  her  brother  at  the  sweetmeat-shop, 
talking,  and  evidently  very  indignant  about 
something,  and  seeming  unmindful  of  poor 
little  Hosna,  whose  wee  head  hung  over  her 
shoulder,  quite  uncovered,  and  exposed  to  a 
broiling  sun.  I  called  to  her;  and,  angry  as 
she  was,  she  immediately  obeyed  the  summons, 
and  hastened  up-stairs,  though  with  rather  a 
sullen  expression  of  countenance.  Before  speak- 
ing a  word,  I  put  my  hand  on  the  baby's  head ; 
and  it  felt  exactly  like  a  hot  loaf  out  of  a 
baker's  oven.  "  Shoh,  my  dear,  the  child  will 
be  sick,  and  die,  if  you  do  not  take  more  care 
of  her."  Shoh  was  all  attention  to  the  child 
directly,  and  quite  sorry.  "  Indeed,"  she  said, 
"it  was  not  well."  I  told  her  that  was  no 
wonder,  as  Hosna  was  just  cutting  her  teeth 
and  required  great  care,  and  remonstrated 
with  her  about  the  exposure  to  the  sun.  "Oh, 
her  mendeel  was  lost  in  that  high  wind  the 
other  day: — it  flew  away!"  said  Shoh.  "You 
could  have  covered  her  head  with  your  veil. 
But,  tell  me,  now,  what  was  all  that  noise 


300 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


about  in  the  street?"  Shoh  seated  Lrrself  on 
the  ground  before  replying,  as  a  long  story 
had  to  be  told,  and  then  "  began  at  the  begin- 
ning," as  children  say.  She  had  been  telling 
her  brother,  Ibraheem,  of  her  husband's  mis- 
deeds,— how  he  went  to  Suez  to  work  on  the 
railway,  and  left  her  none  of  his  wages  to  buy 
food,  and  how  she  had  been  obliged  to  go 
and  eat  at  her  mother's,  or  she  would  have 
had  no  food ! — and  it  was  not  good — it  was  very 
bad — to  act  so; — and  how  she  showed  him 
the  child,  and  said  (holding  it  up,  to  enact  the 
scene  as  she  spoke),  "  See!  this  is  your  child!" 
and  yet  he  gave  her  no  money  to  get  it  clothes, 
■ — adding,  energetically,  as  she  turned  to  me, 
"Who  gave  Hosna  this  frock  ?  You  did.  And 
that  little  jacket  ?  You  !  But  for  you,  it  would 
have  no  clothes ;  and  yet  its  father  gets  money, 
but  he  gives  me  none !"  I  pitied  her  very 
much,  for  it  did  seem  a  hard  case ;  and  the 
more  I  inquired,  the  worse  it  seemed.  The 
husband  had  been  employed  for  some  time  on 
the  railway ;  and  some  persons  (more  likely  to 


CONCLUSION. 


301 


be  Europeans  than  Arabs,  I  fear)  had  taught 
him  to  drink  "araky,"  and  thus  his  money- 
went,  instead  of  buying  bread  for  his  wife  and 
clothes  for  the  baby. 

How  much  easier  is  vice  learned  than  any 
thing  good!  and  how  few  are  the  Lord's 
servants  in  this  country !  A  "  feeble  folk,"  in- 
deed, compared  with  the  multitudes  of  Satan's 
army;  and  though,  like  the  conies,  they  may 
say  that  they  "have  their  dwelling  in  a  rock," 
it  is  yet  discouraging  at  the  moment  to  see 
how  often  the  poor  and  ignorant  are  led  into 
deeper  sins  than  they  had  before  by  those 
whose  superior  civilization  endows  them  with 
outward  superiority.  All  poor  Shoh's  natural 
violence  of  temper  was  excited  by  the  bad  con- 
duct of  her  husband, — which  was,  as  far  as 
I  could  learn,  a  recent  thing.  Formerly,  he 
used  to  beat  her  when  angry;  but  that  was 
too  ordinary  a  matter  for  her  to  complain 
much  about  it :  being  left  without  food,  and 
reduced,  even  for  a  time,  to  be  dependent  on 

26 


302  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


her  parents,  was  a  disgrace  which  she  felt  far 
more  keenly  than  blows. 

After  giving  the  poor  thing  plenty  of  sym- 
pathy, and  many  pats  on  the  shoulder,  till  she 
was  a  little  calmer,  I  exhorted  her  to  try  and 
win  her  husband  to  better  conduct  by  gentle- 
ness, and  not  again  to  shout  out  all  his  faults, 
so  as  to  let  all  the  street  hear,  but  to  pray  often 
to  God  to  change  his  heart.  She  looked  rather 
incredulous  at  the  idea  of  any  change  in  that 
quarter,  but  said,  "  I  will  pray."  I  reminded 
her  that  she  now  knew  a  great  deal  more  than 
many  others  did ;  that  she  had  heard  of  God's 
love  to  the  world,  and  of  how  Christ  died  for 
our  sins,  and  of  the  Holy  Spirit  which  our 
Father  in  heaven  will  give  to  those  who  pray 
to  Him,  and  that  she  should  try  to  be  gentle 
and  good,  and  to  show  others  by  her  life 
that  she  knew  something  about  the  love  of 
God. 

After  a  little  conversation,  she  became  com- 
posed and  cheered,  and  went  off  tolerably 
happy,  with  a  piece  of  clean  muslin  tied  on 


CONCLUSION. 


303 


the  poor  baby's  bead,  and  a  bit  of  sugar  in  its 
hand.  I  saw  her  for  the  last  time  the  morn- 
Jig  I  started:  she  was  standing,  weeping,  at 
the  door  of  my  house,  as  the  donkeys  con- 
veyed the  luggage  to  the  railway-station.  Of 
the  affectionateness  of  her  heart  there  is  no 
doubt, — poor  thing !  but  her  position  is  one  of 
great  difficulty,  and  her  temper  very  impetu- 
ous ;  and  I  could  not  leave  her  without  feeling 
very  anxious. 

These  details  of  her,  and  of  others  with 
whom  I  came  into  contact,  are,  indeed,  but 
"the  short  and  simple  annals  of  the  poor," 
and  contain  much  that  is  in  itself  both  homely 
and  trivial.  It  is,  however,  with  the  view  of 
bringing  the  habits  and  situation,  not  of  these 
individuals  only,  but  of  the  class  of  which  they 
are  specimens,  before  the  minds  of  those 
readers  who  take  a  lively  interest  in  the  con- 
dition of  the  poor  in  every  land,  that  these 
additional  sketches  are  published.  They  are 
unfinished  stories,  one  and  all,  and  we  may 
never  find  their  conclusion  in  this  world;  but 


304  CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


all  the  persons  here  alluded  to  were  real  living 
beings  when  the  writer  met  with  them ;  they 
are  not  fictitious  or  dressed-up  characters,  but 
actual  Egyptian  peasant  women,  feeling  and 
acting  much  as  do  hundreds  and  thousands  of 
others.  If  it  were  fiction,  and  not  truth,  it 
would  be  easy  to  make  more  entertaining 
stories,  to  speak  of  greater  success,  of  more 
positive  results,  instead  of  stopping  short  at 
"We  hope;"  but  in  details  which  profess  to 
be  the  bare  and  simple  truth,  we  may  not  say 
a  word  more  than  the  facts  warrant,  as  they 
come  under  personal  observation. 

To  say  (as  has  sometimes  been  rashly  de- 
clared) that  the  Moslims  are  ready  to  receive 
Christianity,  and  that  the  faith  of  the  false 
Prophet  is  crumbling  away,  is  what  I  would 
not  venture  for  a  moment  to  assert;  and,  I 
presume,  judging  from  those  whose  wide  ex- 
perience gives  them  authority,  that  it  is  very 
far  from  being  the  case.  But  I  can  state,  as  a 
fact,  that  in  the  neighbourhood  of  Cairo  the 
peasant  population,  both  men  and  women,  are 


CONCLUSION. 


306 


willing,  and  many  of  them  eager,  to  listen  to 
the  word  of  God,  when  it  is  brought  to  them 
judiciously  and  discreetly  as  well  as  with 
kindness  and  zeal.  The  missionary  can  only 
sow  the  seed ;  the  increase  must  come  from 
above ;  but  when  he  gains  a  fair  hearing  he 
is  sowing  ;  and  truly  the  harvest  is  plenteous 
here,  and  the  labourers  few.  While  we  earnestly 
pray  for  more  labourers  in  these  whitening 
fields,  we  must  anxiously  desire  that  they  may 
be  wise  and  cautious  as  well  as  zealous 
workers ;  for  one  rash  and  inexperienced 
labourer,  acting  with  a  want  of  prudence  in 
a  Moslim  country,  would  easily  shut  doors 
which  his  predecessors  had  opened,  and  thus 
do  more  harm  than  good.  But  for  the  scribe 
instructed  unto  the  kingdom  of  heaven, — the 
householder  who  can  bring  out  of  his  treasury 
things  new  and  old,  as  occasion  may  point,  and 
who  prays  to  be  given  the  wisdom  of  the  ser- 
pent with  the  harmlessness  of  the  dove, — a 
better  field  for  exertion  in  the  Lord's  cause 
can  scarcely  be  found  than  Egypt.    If  India 

U  26* 


306 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


Las,  in  one  way,  more  claims,  as  being  part 
of  our  own  empire,  still  Egypt  has  great 
demands  upon  us  also,  as  being  part  of  the 
Bible  land, — those  regions  which  are  every 
man's  country  who  has  studied  the  Scrip- 
ture :  the  land  where  God  so  often  spoke 
to  his  servants,  the  land  where  Joseph  died 
and  Moses  was  born,  and  where  the  Saviour  s 
infant  feet  trod,  must  have  a  sacred  inte- 
rest for  every  Christian,  and  its  people, — 
"  mixed  multitudes"  though  they  be — a  pe- 
culiar claim. 

It  is  a  subject  of  great  thankfulness  to 
the  writer  of  these  little  sketches  to  hear 
that  the  first  part  of  "  Ragged  Life  in 
Egypt"  has  been  read  with  interest  and 
pleasure  at  several  "  mothers'  meetings,"  and 
that  some  have  been  led  to  feel  an  inte- 
rest in  those  who  have  fewer  privileges 
and  advantages  than  themselves.  Nor  is 
the  good  thus  obtained  merely  the  opening 
of  their  minds  to  think  of  others:  the  poor 
women  of  Egypt  may  be  benefited,  through 


CONCLUSION. 


307 


God's  grace,  by  the  prayers  of  the  poor  in  a 
distant  land, — how,  we  may  never  exactly 
know  in  this  world ;  but  that  prayer  is  a 
means  of  grace  to  the  missionary,  we  have 
the  highest  authority  s — "  Ye  also  helping  to- 
gether by  prayer  for  us"  (2  Cor.  i.  11) ;  and 
many  other  passages  of  Scripture  show  that 
thus  the  weakest  believers  may  help  in  the 
good  work  of  spreading  the  gospel.  The  hard- 
worked  washerwoman  who  has  carried  home 
the  recollection  of  what  she  heard  of  the  fol- 
lowers of  the  false  Prophet,  and  thinks  over  it 
at  her  daily  labour,  and  offers  up  humble  and 
sincere  prayers  for  the  missionaries  and  Bible- 
women  of  Cairo,  is  a  helper  in  the  good  cause. 
The  electric  telegraph,  with  all  its  wonders,  is 
less  wonderful  than  the  chain  of  Christian  love 
and  sympathy,  defying  not  only  distance  but 
language,  and  forming  a  mysterious  link  be- 
tween those  who  are  never  to  meet  in  life. 
But  a  day  will  come  when  some  of  them  will 
meet  in  the  great  multitude  of  all  kindreds 
and  nations :  surely  there  will  be  an  Egyptian 


308 


CHILD-LIFE  IN  EGYPT. 


band  among  the  rest !  May  God  in  his  mercy 
grant  that  some  whose  names  are  mentioned 
in  these  pages  may  be  found  at  that  day  with 
their  names  written  in  the  Book  of  Life,  and 
their  home  among  the  many  mansions  pre- 
pared by  the  Lord  for  all  who  have  trusted  in 
him ! 


DATE  DUE 


GAYLORD        #3523PI      Printed  in  USA 


